Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?
by DaynaJD
Summary: "Have I mentioned I hate you today?" his assistant asked sarcastically. "Not since this morning," Jackson responded deadpan as he continued to look over her notes. "Well, let me reiterate: I hate you." Complete summary inside. Updated 05/17/10 - finally
1. Chapter 1

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?**  
**Chapter 1**

A/N: New story. Daniel gets a new assisstant after his ascending/descending eposide. This story takes place over sessons 7 and 8 with spoilers for select episode (and I'll let you know which ones). Also, Erika Sheppard (yes, related to John Sheppard from SGA) is a returning character for me. She made her first appearance in my story Ancient History over in the SGA part of this site. But you don't have to read that story to understand this one. This is actually a prequel to that story. But by all means, if you would like to read that too you are more than welcome.

Anywho...on with the story. Commentary is always welcome. Oh, and I'll try to update once a week, probably on the weekend, but no promises. ;)

A/N2: So, haven't worked on this story in a while…sorry. I edited the 5 chapters that are up – nothing major, just fixed a few errors. I promise I am working on chapter 6. My muse just took longer than expected.

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Captain Erika Sheppard walked slowly through the halls of the SGC. She glanced right and left, awed by the size of the building as she followed the airman to the General's office. They walked through a control room and Erika stopped, breathless. She had learned about the secret base under Cheyenne Mountain a few years ago, had even studied some of the artifacts that came from the base at Area 51. She knew about the Stargate and it's capabilities, but to see it, to actually look at it, stole her breath away and left her rooted to her spot. It suddenly hit her full force that she was actually at the SGC. She was going to join a SG team and travel to other planets. She felt she would practically burst with excitement.

"Pretty impressive, isn't it?" Erika turned around and beamed a smile at the man next to her.

"Colonel O'Neill. Have I thanked you yet from saving me from Area 51? Because I am thankful. This is really amazing, Sir," she ended, remembering who she was talking to. O'Neill just smiled at her.

"Oh, don't thank me yet, Captain. You haven't met Daniel."

"No, Sir. I read a few of his papers as an undergrad, though, Colonel," Erika remarked offhandedly.

"What'd you think?"

Erika frowned. Colonel O'Neill was a good friend of Doctor Jackson. She did not want to offend. Besides, it was not an order. "I would prefer to keep judgment for when I met Doctor Jackson, Sir," she replied carefully.

"Though he was crazy, uh?"

"Absolutely nuts, Sir," Erika admitted truthfully. O'Neill just kept smiling and nodded once, as if he knew exactly what Erika was thinking. Erika smirked. Maybe he did. "But I do look forward to working with him, Sir," she added quickly, just in case.

"Oh, I'm sure the feeling is mutual," O'Neill replied knowingly. "Shall we, Captain?" He gestured for her to start up the stairs. Erika nodded and walked ahead of him up to the conference room overlooking the Stargate. She heard arguing in a side room and glanced at O'Neill. He just shrugged, offering Erika no explanation. Erika wanted to ask, but she held her tongue. She stood silently next to the Colonel, feeling more than a little nervous being in the room with such a hero. She sighed quietly to herself. She had a bad case of hero worship when it came to Colonel Jack O'Neill.

"General," someone said loudly as the door to the side room opened. Erika glanced up to see General Hammond waltz out followed by an animated man with glasses and short hair. She cocked her head to the side, watching as he followed the general around the room to stand a mere foot from the imposing Hammond. Glasses was definitely not military. She snuck a glance at O'Neill. His smile seemed to almost split his face in two.

"Doctor Jackson, there is nothing more to be discussed," General Hammond ended the conversation before it began anew with a raise of his hand. "The decision has been made and it's final."

"But General-"

"Off world activation," a voice announced over the PA. Erika turned to watch as the Stargate lit up. She flinched and took a small step back as the wormhole engaged in a bright blue swirl before calming into a pool of liquid. Her mouth hung open slightly as four people stepped out and on to the ramp leading from the ring. She could barely feel the corners of her mouth turn up into a smile. She would go through that ring someday. The thought scared the hell out of her and delighted her at the same time.

"Just SG-3 coming back on schedule," O'Neill said over her shoulder. Erika nodded, hardly able to form a thought much less a sentence.

"Colonel," Hammond questioned, "who's this?"

Erika almost tripped over her own feet she spun around so fast. She saluted with timed precision as she introduced herself, "Captain Erika Sheppard reporting for duty, Sir."

"At ease, Captain," the general replied. Erika dropped her arms and clasped her hands behind her back. She saw Glasses eye O'Neill, but the Colonel was standing behind her so she could not see his response. The other man raised an eyebrow and glanced at Erika for a moment. She met his gaze, and he turned away first.

"Captain, this is Doctor Daniel Jackson," Hammond continued as he motioned to Jackson. Erika just nodded. "You'll be working directly under him, understand?"

"Yes, Sir," Erika replied quickly. She knew what he was asking: "will you take orders from a civilian?" She had taken more orders from civilian scientists in the past few years than any other captain she knew. Jackson would be no different.

"General," a new voice interrupted.

"Sergeant?" Hammond asked as he looked past Erika to the doorway.

"SG-3 will be ready for a debriefing at 1600 hours, Sir."

"Thank you, Sergeant." He glanced at his watch. "I'll let you two get acquainted. Captain. Colonel."

"General," O'Neill replied casually. It was awkward for Erika. Every general she knew (and there were a few) wanted to be saluted all the time. She barely had time to raise her hand up before Hammond waltzed out of the room and down the steps. She watched his retreating figure before she glanced up at O'Neill. He was still smiling a face splitting smile.

"We do things a little different here, Sheppard." He patted her shoulder. "I'll leave you kids alone. Daniel, be nice." With that, he jaunted down the stairs, humming some tune under his breath. Erika felt another smile tug at her mouth.

Jackson cleared his throat. "Captain."

"Doctor." Erika turned slowly and gave a little nod as she looked him up and down. He was athletic, and some might say he was good looking, although he was not Erika's type. He seemed a little uptight and looked a little too uncomfortable with the situation for Erika's taste. But being the big girl she was, she decided to make the first move and crossed the room with her hand extended.

"Nice to finally meet you, Doctor Jackson," she started. He looked at her hand for a moment before he finally took hold in a firm grasp.

"Yes, you too, Captain." He did not sound thrilled at their meeting though, and Erika remembered the voice she heard in what she now guessed was Hammond's office. Jackson did not want her working with him. The thought shocked Erika more than a little. No one had ever reacted to her in that way before.

"Doctor Jackson, I can assure you that I am qualified for this position," she offered, not knowing what else to say. He seemed surprised for a moment, but it melted away into disbelief.

"I'm sure. Why don't we go over those 'qualifications'?" He gestured to the seat across from him as he sat. Erika hesitantly dropped into the seat and folded her hands on top of the table. They watched each other, sizing each other up, before Jackson began the informal meeting.

"So," he moved his hands so his palms were flat on the table. "You have been in the Air Force for three years, mostly at Area 51 and you have a Bachelors in archeology. Is that it?"

Erika furrowed her eyebrows and pouted. She leaned forward over her hands and cocked her head to the side. "No. I also have a Masters in Egyptology and-"

"Egyptology? I didn't see that in your file," Jackson said as he stood, his interest clearly peaked. He shoved his hands in his jacket pocket as he paced around the table. "Been to Egypt?"

"Yes. I spent a semester there as an undergrad and a semester and a summer as a grad student. I worked on-."

"How many languages do you speak?" Jackson interrupted again. Erika sighed in frustration. He would get more information from her if he did not interrupt her after every thought.

"Five or six."

"Which is it, five or six?"

Erika thought about it for a second. "Five fluently. A few more passably." He gave her a look. "Oh, you want to know which ones." Erika smiled behind her hand at his exasperation. "Spanish, Arabic, Latin, and Chinese."

"You said five."

It was Erika's turn to be exasperated. "And English, of course. As well as a little French, Italian, Aramaic, Japanese, Portuguese, and German. Plus I read-"

"You speak all those languages?" he asked in an unbelieving tone.

"Doctor," Erika started. He waved a hand at her in a dismissive manner, much to Erika's irritation. She finally stood and stopped in front of Jackson, making him stop and look at her. "Doctor," she repeated. He actually looked up at her and held her gaze.

"Captain," he replied, confused.

"Yes, I speak all those languages, although only the first five fluently. I can just barely get by with the rest. Plus I read-" she raised a hand to stop his interruption. He sighed and pouted a little, but closed his mouth. "Plus I read," she continued, "Spanish, Latin, hieroglyphics, cuneiform, Greek, and enough Chinese to get by. I've been to digs in both China and Egypt. I actually spent a year total in Egypt, although in two separate semesters: one as an undergrad and one as a grad student."

"Oh," was all he offered in return. He rocked back on his heals.

"And I can make coffee like no one's business," Erika said completely straight-faced. She wondered briefly if maybe her eyes gave it away when Jackson cracked a smile.

"I suppose I should show you the office. It's where the coffee pot is, after all," Jackson commented lightly as he turned and started down the stairs. Erika smiled and shook her head at his back as she followed. Working for Jackson would not be so bad. At least he had a sense of humor, which was more than most of the scientists at Area 51 had to offer. Plus she hoped he would use her as more than a glorified coffee girl given her qualifications.

They wandered through the maze of corridors that ran under Cheyenne Mountain until Erika was thoroughly lost. She considered asking for some kind of map, but changed her mind when she realized this was a top-secret facility. In front of her, Jackson droned on and on about Stargate travel, documenting sites ("Are you sure you know how to document properly?"), and a few other things that Erika supposed where important to her new position. But she tuned him out instead and let her mind wander to what possibilities lay beyond the Stargate. Assuming Jackson set her off world, of course.

"Captain?"

"Uh. Oh. Office. Yes," she replied, slightly embarrassed. She mentally chided herself for tuning Jackson out so completely and resolved to only tune him out a little bit in the future. But instead of acknowledging that she was not listening, Erika opted to enter the office and took a look around her new home away from home (not that 'home' was anything spectacular, she reminded herself). The office was by no means small and by no means neat. Papers were littered on the small desk, artifacts were scattered on a larger table, and books lined the walls in cluttered piles. There was a chalkboard in one corner with strange writings on it. Erika carefully threaded through the office to stand in front of it. She tilted her head from one side to the other as she studied the alien language.

"It's Ancient," Jackson commented as he stepped next to her. Erika inclined her head to look at him and was struck to see the admiration in his eyes as they moved over the text. Especially since the words were gibberish to her.

"So what does this all mean?" she asked as she gestured to the text. Jackson's glance held a smile and more than a hint of mischief.

"You're going to tell me," he commented. Erika's jaw almost hit the floor she was so shocked.

"What? I can't read Ancient, Doctor Jackson. I won't even know where to start to translate this," she quickly explained. Not that Erika thought she could not translate the text given the right tools. She wondered if this was some weird test Jackson was putting her through.

"I know, but you're gonna learn."


	2. Chapter 2

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?  
Chapter 2**

A/N: Okay, so I messed up my fanfic lingo last chapter. My mistake. It's fixed now. Anywho, thanks for the reviews of chater 1. On to chapter 2

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Erika rested her head between her out stretched arms. The pages of her notebook felt cool against her forehead, a welcome relief to the building headache. She closed eyes, breathed in deeply, and released it in a soft moan. Blindly, she groped around the desktop searching for a mug of coffee she knew rested somewhere close. A lukewarm paper cup was placed in one of her questing hands. Erika drew it to her lips, spilling a few drops on her notes. She sighed contently as the bittersweet liquid filled her mouth and trickled down her throat.

"Thought you could use another cup," a mildly amused voice commented. Erika lifted her head just enough to spy O'Neill standing before her one hand holding a second paper cup while the other rested in his pocket. She grumbled something before she returned her forehead to the page. She knew she should at least move her notebook. Her forehead would be smeared in ink if she fell asleep at the desk, a feat that was becoming more commonplace than Erika liked.

"How's the research going?" O'Neill asked. Erika could hear the smile in his tone. She groaned and lifted her head again.

"Glad to see you're back to yourself, Colonel," she commented dryly. O'Neill's smile seemed to grow if that was at all possible. Erika groaned. She at least had the presence of mind to move her notebook this time as she laid her head down. She really wanted to sleep.

"Me too." He patted Erika on the shoulder. "Why don't you get some sleep, Captain?" he suggested as he stepped back and left the office.

"Thanks for the coffee, Sir," she managed to say. Coffee. She pushed herself up with a grunt and took another sip of the life sustaining liquid. She picked up her pen and went back to studying the photos of some Ancient artifact Jackson wanted her translate. She was three symbols in when her eyes crossed and the words on her notebook blurred. She rubbed at her eyes until they watered before she shook her head to clear it. She stretched, stifled a yawn, and decided to call it quits for the night. She gathered her notebooks and photos in a neat pile and stood.

"Captain, good you're still here," Jackson commented as he sauntered into the office with an armful of papers and files. "These need to be translated by tomorrow." Erika started at him with disbelief as she hovered next the chair. Jackson paid no attention to her as he grabbed her notebook and studied the scribbled writings as Erika picked up the top file.

"Have I mentioned I hate you today?" she asked sarcastically.

"Not since this morning," Jackson responded deadpan as he continued to look over her notes.

"Well, let me reiterate: I hate you."

"Yes, well, the feeling is mutual," he responded in the same deadpan voice as he circled a few words on the page and scribbled under them. He made a little noise in his throat as he put the notebook back down. "Not too bad after only a week. Let's get started on these files."

"Are you kidding?" Erika exclaimed as she took a step toward him. "I've been working since 0700 this morning with briefings, off world sites and digs, and then translating in this cramped space for the last four hours. I have another round of briefings tomorrow. I'm tired, Doctor Jackson. I just want to-is that Chinese?" she asked as she glanced over the pages.

"I don't know. I had Watson look it over, and he doesn't think so. I thought you were tired?" he asked with a hint of mockery. Erika chose to ignore him as she picked up the photo to look more closely. She smiled slowly as realization dawned. Jackson frowned.

"What?"

"Watson wouldn't know what it was. He couldn't because he would have never learned it." She brought he gaze from the page to lock with Jackson's eyes. She could see his mounting confusion and took a brief joy in it before cluing him in.

"It's a secret woman's language that they use in parts of China. Woman weren't allowed to write, so they invited this language and wove it into their blankets. A few of the woman I stayed with taught it to me," she quickly explained. Jackson started to grin as well.

"Think you can translate it?" he asked. Her tiredness forgotten, Erika nodded. She handed her photo to Jackson and picked up the next one in the stack. Jackson raised an eyebrow.

"What? You think I'm doing this by myself?" She caught a view of her coffee cup and downed the rest of the liquid in one gulp. When it was finished, she stared down at the empty bottom. "We're gonna need more coffee."

"I thought you were tired," Jackson reminded her as he took the seat next to her. Erika turned her glare to him.

"Yes. And I also hate you. Don't forget that."

"Of course. How could I forget that? You only remind me every moment you possibly can," he retorted. Erika smirked as she thought about the first time she used that phrase. Jackson's response had been a delightful mixture of confusion, apprehension, and that deer-in-the-headlights. Erika was not sure what gave her away, perhaps the half smile that crept to her lips, but Jackson shook the shock from his face and replied with the same hint of joke Erika used. Since then it had become a joke between the two, and it confused the hell out of all their colleagues. Of course, that only made it more amusing for Erika..

She chuckled to herself as she snatched her notebook. She sank into the seat next to Jackson and opened to a clean page. She glanced around the desk for a pen, but to her annoyance found none. With a glare at Daniel she found her bag and rummaged through it for a second pen. She removed a fresh pen with a triumphant smile to find Jackson staring at her.

"What?" she asked as she pulled a photo toward her. Jackson just shook his head as he rolled his chair closer to her.

"What are we looking at?" he asked as he looked at the photo over her shoulder. She glanced at him before she launched into a detailed explanation of what the photo showed. She went through the photos with him showing what each symbol meant, although there were a few even she did not recognize. They went to the massive collection of books for those. They quickly settled into a comfortable rhythm that betrayed the close relationship the two were developing.

Time was lost as they worked side by side, and Erika was shocked when she looked at her watch to find it was 0600. It suddenly hit her how tired she was. She stretched her neck back then forward and rubbed at it with hands to loosen the muscles. She looked over the tabletop, which was littered with paper coffee cups, scraps of paper, and piles of books. With a heavy sigh, she started picking up the trash. Jackson looked up from his page and eyed her.

"Yes, I'm calling it quits," she read his mind. "I have a briefing in two hours and need to get a little shut eye."

Jackson looked at his watch, surprised. "Actually, you have a briefing in one hour. Hammond wants us to go over these at 0700," he replied sheepishly. Erika glowered and clenched her fists until it hurt. She counted to ten as she slowly unclenched her fists. It was useless trying to argue with Jackson.

"I hate you," she mumbled.

"Ah ha. I'm gonna go get some coffee. Want some coffee?" he inquired as he closed his book and stood.

"I'm gonna need it. But I'm gonna go for a run first. 0700, uh?" He nodded. "Great. It's going to be a looong day."


	3. Chapter 3

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?  
Chapter 3**

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Small spoiler for "Lifeboat", but since it was aired way back in season 7, I'm thinking most of you have already seen it. Anywho, for those who haven't, it shoulden't spoil too much.

Enjoy!

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"So what's he like?" Lieutenant Patterson asked as Erika shoveled another spoonful of pudding into her mouth. She swallowed and glanced up at her friend.

"Who? Jackson?" She nodded vigorously, and Erika rolled her eyes. "Kinda geeky. Talks a lot. Likes to order me around."

"You're so lucky you get to work with him," Patterson gushed. Erika rolled her eyes a second time at the marine. She did not understand why Patterson had such a crush on Jackson. She could just not see the attraction.

"Whatever you say, Anna. Try working for the man," she explained. Patterson looked at her like as if she were sprouting wings and a horn.

"I would love to," she said dreamily. Erika snorted.

"Ah, speak of the devil. Doctor Jackson, Lieutenant Patterson," she commented lightly as Jackson approached the table. He merely glanced at Patterson before turning his full attention to Erika. Patterson was almost drooling.

"Nice to meet you, Doctor," she managed to stammer out. Jackson offered her a nod and she practically swooned.

"SG-8 found some interesting ruins on PX3-425," he began. Erika nodded.

"And?"

"That's so interesting," Patterson commented at the same time. Jackson turned a skeptical glance at her and Patterson seemed to take to the hint. "I guess I'll let you two work. Bye, Doctor." She looked meaningfully at Erika, but the captain just rolled her eyes before she looked back at Jackson.

"And?" she repeated.

"And I want you to go there and document them."

"Why can't SG-8's guy document them?"

"Henderson." It was the only explanation Erika needed. She did not know why Jackson kept Henderson on the roster. The guy was good with research, horrible with fieldwork. Erika groaned. She would have to re-document the entire site. She took another bit as Jackson stared at her.

"What? You want me to go now?"

"That's the idea," he responded.

"Are you joking? I have a mission with SG-10 at 0700 tomorrow. Can't I even finish me lunch?"

"You can sleep at the site and meet SG-10 tomorrow. And you have MREs in a basic pack." Erika groaned again. Sleep on one planet, 'gate to another in the morning. And whoever called them "meals ready to eat" had to be the best liar in the world. They were not meals, not ready, and certainly not edible. She scrunched her nose at the thought of eating them for lunch.

"I really hate you," she commented as she stood.

"So you keep saying," he replied.

"Off so soon, Sheppard?" O'Neill asked as he plopped his tray next to Jackson.

"Yes, Sir. Just off on some urgent mission to document some thousand year old ruins, Sir," she replied as she shot a glare at Jackson. O'Neill caught the glare and smirked.

"At least finish your lunch, Captain."

"Is that an order, Sir?" Erika asked as a smile spread across her face.

"I believe it is," he replied straight faced. Erika would have chuckled if Jackson had not been glaring at them.

"Jack."

"Daniel. Let the girl eat. I'm sure the ruins will still be there by the time she finishes. Lighten up." He shoveled into his food, but Erika could still see his smile. She hung her head to try and hide her laughter at the situation. Jackson looked as if he might explode. Erika found it very amusing.

"Oh, come on, Doctor Jackson. They'll still be there in the time it takes me to eat. I promise I'll even go back after my mission with SG-10 if I don't get everything today," she said as she took a dainty bit. She wanted this to last as long as possible, even if it meant she had to stay off world for a few extra hours.

"You're right," Jackson replied smugly. Erika looked down at her plate and found it to be cleared of food. She swore.

"I really hate you," she snapped as she picked up her tray and left the mess hall to grab her gear. She mumbled the entire way, complaining about Jackson. What irked her more was that she was sure Jackson and O'Neill were smirking behind her back.

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Erika sat in the small booth above the isolation chamber with her head down and her hands folded in her lap. Below her, Jackson was ranting and raving about being held against his will and demanding to be let out. It was torturous for her to watch, but she felt obligated to be there for him. Especially since he would be there for her. But it did not make it any easier for her to sit there and listen to the multiple personalities speaking out of Jackson's mouth.

She had returned from P8C-004 to receive her next set of orders only to find Jackson in his present condition. It stunned her to the chore. She knew 'gate travel could be dangerous, but she never expected this. It made her realize just how unqualified she really was for her new job. And now that she was acting in-change of the archeology department, she was feeling down right inadequate.

"How's he holding up?" O'Neill asked as he took the seat next to her. Erika lifted her head to watch as Jackson paced in the small room.

"Okay, I guess. The demands have gotten more insistent. And Doctor Jackson hasn't tried to speak again. Doctor Frasier thinks it might be protecting his psyche, or something like that. Truth be told, Sir, I'm more than a little worried that he might not come back from this."

"Carter and Teal'c went back to the ship to see if they could find anything. He'll pull through, Sheppard," O'Neill offered as he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know you're worried, but shouldn't you be at a mission briefing?"

"No, Sir."

"No, Sir? What do you mean 'No, Sir'?" he asked, more than a little indigent.

"I assigned Doctor Sero to the mission."

"What?"

"I just don't feel comfortable leaving while he's like that, Sir. Sero knows what to do on P2X-485. I trust him and Daniel trusts him, Sir," Erika replied. She snorted as she realized what she said and had to wonder when Jackson turned to Daniel. It was something that happened gradually between the late night research sessions and mid-day lunches when they were both on Earth. It happened as they argued about various texts and photos and as she declared her undying hatred of him. It happened as they grew closer as colleagues and even closer as friends. Erika allowed herself a bit of a smile. Yes, she could count Daniel Jackson as one of her friends, probably her closest friend among the personal at the SGC.

"Captain."

"I can't do this without Daniel, Sir," she admitted. "I can not take over this department. I'm in way over my head, Sir." She was surprised by how much she meant it. She was barely swimming along when Daniel was there. She would drown without his guidance and she knew it. It shocked her that she had come to depend on him so much in the last few months.

"I know how you feel, Captain, but you can't turn your back on your duties," O'Neil reminded her.

"I understand that, Sir. I just can't go through the 'gate until I know he's okay." O'Neill just nodded. They sat together and watched as Daniel continued to pace the room.

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Erika paced the control room. She stopped every few minutes to look at the 'gate expectantly. Each time nothing happened and Erika continued her pacing. To the stairs, stop, turn, to the computers, stop, turn, repeat. Once, twice, thrice.

"Captain Sheppard," General Hammond barked. Erika turned to apologize, but her words were swallowed as the Stargate came to life.

"Incoming wormhole," Sergeant Davis announced as the vortex spun out before settling into the smooth event horizon. "It's SG-1's IDC."

Erika was out of the control room and down the stairs before another word was uttered. She entered the 'gate room just as Teal'c stepped off the ramp and O'Neill stepped out of the wormhole. He regarded Erika with a nod and a smile, but Erika turned her attention away as Daniel Jackson stepped through vortex. She let out a breath she had not realized she was holding as he stepped away from the 'gate and walked down the ramp.

"Glad to see you're all right, Doctor Jackson," was all she could say before Doctor Frasier rushed in. Daniel nodded at her as he was whisked out of the 'gate room to the infirmary. Erika sighed. That heart-felt if-you-ever-do-this-again-I'll-kill-you-myself talk would have to wait. She watched as the entourage escorted Daniel down the hall before she went in the opposite direction to his office.

She worked for a little while, but she was distracted and did little actual work. After an hour of tapping her pen, shuffling photos and papers around, and staring off into space she got up. She just needed to move around for a little while to clear her head.

She just meant to walk around for a moment, maybe get a cup of coffee from the mess. When she looked up, thought, she was standing at the door to the infirmary. She poked her head through the door and did a quick sweep of the room. Daniel was sitting on the edge of a bed with his glasses in one hand, rubbing his eyes with the other. Erika took a step in and stood next to the doorframe.

"Daniel," she said hesitantly. Daniel lifted his head and adjusted his glasses.

"Hi," he replied in a drawn out tone. Erika took a step forward to stand at the foot of the bed.

"How ya doing?"

"Well, the splitting headache is gone. Did you just call me 'Daniel'?" he asked, still looking a little bewildered.

"That _is_ your name, isn't it? I mean, friends call each other by their names, right?"

"I guess."

Erika rolled her eyes and stepped forward again to awkwardly embrace Daniel. "I'm really glad you're all right, Daniel. Had me worried for a moment, there," she admitted. She was a bit shocked when he returned her embrace.

"So how was the office?" he asked as he pattered her on the back. She tossed her head back as they stepped apart and groaned.

"I never want your job. Are they always so whiny?" she complained. Daniel just chuckled.

"Why don't you bring me up to speed on what happened while I was…disposed." He paused. "Aren't you suppose to be off world today?"

"Yes, well…I…um…thought my duties here were more important and...I sent Sero instead," she stumbled over her excuse. Daniel just smiled knowingly.

"Sero? I'll need you to go to the site tomorrow and make sure he's doing it right," Daniel replied. Erika glared.

"That's the thanks I get. Have I mentioned I hate? No. Cause I do." He just grinned as they left the infirmary and walked to the office.


	4. Chapter 4

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?  
Chapter 4**

A/N: This chapter has a little spoiler for _Enemy Mine_. Just a little one. Anywho, thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter. Glad you're still enjoying. This chapter is a little different. It wasn't what I had planned on writing when I started. It just kind of came out, though. I think it's the longest chapter to date. Hope you enjoy.

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"Erika, you don't have to do this," Daniel said for the fifth or sixth time as Erika prepared herself for the upcoming battle. She glanced at him for a moment before she slammed the clip home in her sidearm and holstered it. She slung her P-90 from her shoulder and re-checked the clip.

"Erika," Daniel repeated. Erika finally turned to him. He removed his glasses and they locked glares. "Walk away."

She set her sunglasses to her eyes to break the gaze. "I can't just walk away, Daniel. I have direct orders to lock and load. Can't ignore 'em." She cocked the gun and strolled past Daniel. He grabbed her arm as she walked by.

"Erika, this is going to be a massacre."

"Let go, Daniel," she stated coldly. He did. Erika took a step forward but a heavy weight on her chest made her stop. Damn it, she could not walk away from Daniel like that. She sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't have a choice."

"They out number us," he reminded her.

"I know. Can't promise I'll come back from this one," she admitted quietly. Daniel put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off. She did not want his comfort, or his pity. She was an officer in the United States Air Force, and she knew what that meant when she signed up. She just hoped her career did not end early because some colonel had an ego and could not take advice from a mere civilian scientist who did not understand war. Edwards' words, of course. So she took a deep breath and walked away from Daniel to her battle station.

Erika knew they were out numbered. She could never have guessed that the Unas numbered so many. They were not just out numbered; they were vastly out numbered. There was no way, none, that they could win this battle. With startling clarity, Erika realized that she was going to die if Edwards decided to go through with his plan. She gripped her weapon tighter and steeled herself.

Then suddenly, Daniel was standing in front of Edwards, explaining how this massacre could still be avoided. In a surprising twist of fate, he asked everyone to kneel before the Unas. Erika dropped to her knees without any more prompting, which earned her a grin from Daniel and a glare from Edwards. Finally Edwards listened to reason and ordered the rest of his men to their knees.

"How long do we have to kneel?" he complained. Daniel smiled knowingly.

"As long as it takes."

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Erika entered the elevator and jammed the button with her thumb. She leaned against the back wall and closed her eyes. It had been a long day. The negotiations with the Unas took much long than anyone expected, but the results were very worth it. Now, after being in the hot sun for more hours that she remembered, all she wanted was a hot shower and a warm bed.

The elevator stopped and Erika cracked an eye open. She reluctantly pushed off the back wall as Daniel stepped in looking more smug than usual. Erika could guess why. He just negotiated one of the best deals the SGC had ever seen.

"How'd the briefing go?" she asked as she stifled a yawn. Daniel was actually beaming in response.

"I don't think I've seen Sam so excited."

"That's great," Erika replied, although she knew she sounded more tired than excited. The shower was looking less and less important and bed looking more and more enticing. She was debating just crashing in her bunk on the base instead of actually having to drive all the way home. But then her cat would go hungry. She sighed.

"I thought you'd be long gone by now," Daniel commented absently. Erika shrugged. That had been the plan when she found out she did not have to attend the post-opt briefing. Like most things in her life, that did not go according to plan.

"I stopped by the office to drop off the camera. Then, of course, something needed my immediate attention. Actually it needed your immediate attention, but I was there so…" she let the sentence trail off as she waved her hands in circular motions. "That's why I'm leaving now. Actually, I'm taking a shower first. I haven't been this dirty in a long time."

"What was that urgent thing that needed my attention?' Daniel predictably asked. Erika resisted the urge to laugh. It was such a normal question when her day had been anything but. She could always turn to Daniel to ground her.

"A treaty translation that needed to be done yesterday. I was able to do it, but you might want to look over it before it goes out."

"Um, sure," he responded. The elevator stopped and Erika stepped off. For a moment, Daniel hesitated. It looked as if he might stay, perhaps travel to the office, but he finally stepped out. Erika shook her head and walked slowly to the locker room. A nice shower would heal her muscles and wash away the grit.

"This is now the woman's locker room, boys," she announced as she waltzed into the room. The few guys still present looked up and grumbled. One by one they filed out, leaving Erika alone. She looked around. Almost alone.

"Daniel?"

"Uh. Oh. Sorry," he stammered out and left Erika alone.

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Erika towel dried her hair and shook it out. She dropped the towel into the "dirty" bin and opened her locker to find her brush. She caught her reflection in the small mirror and frowned at the unruly mop of brown hair. With quick strokes of the brush, her hair was groomed to satisfaction. She smiled, grabbed her sunglasses and her sweeter and was out of the locker room.

Daniel was leaning against the door just outside as she exited. He pushed off and gave a little half wave as she stepped by. Erika raised an eyebrow at his manner of dress, but he did not seem to notice. He actually seemed to be eyeing her in the same manner. Erika looked down at her own clothing, but could find nothing wrong with her tank and jeans.

"What? Did I spill something?"

"No," he commented dryly. "I just-you actually wear that? I mean, not that's it's bad or anything, but-you actually wear that?"

She gestured to his slacks and button up. "Speak for yourself. Could you be any more of a geek? There's nothing wrong with wearing jeans. You should try it."

He snorted and changed the subject, "Have you eaten yet?"

"Noo," Erika replied hesitantly. _Is he…did he just…what the hell?_ she thought.

"Want to get something to eat?" he asked.

"Daniel…" she said undecidedly. Daniel looked confused first. Slowly confusion changed to realization and then an odd combination of amusement and dismay.

"No, no. Not like that," he clarified. "You know, dinner and drinks between friends. My treat."

"Well, I can't turn that down, now can I?" They walked down the hall towards the elevators until Erika stopped mid-stride. "Oh, but I have to stop by my house first and feed my cat."

"You have a cat?"

"Yeah, just got her. Hey, are you going off world next week?"

"No…why?"

"Could you feed my cat while I'm gone?"

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"You're kidding?"

"I'm absolutely serious."

"Colonel O'Neill?"

"Yep."

"And they didn't court marshal him? I've known guys that were kicked out for way less."

"They gave him a medal."

"You're shitting me? Well, I guess the guy did save the world," Erika commented lightly as she took another sip of beer.

"He wasn't the only one there, you know?" Daniel commented into his beer as he too took a sip. Erika chuckled.

"You're my hero, Daniel," she replied with dry sarcasm. "Oh, Daniel, oh Daniel. My hero."

"Yeah, yeah." He sounded annoyed, but Erika could see his smile. "Heard you got a day off tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Erika replied, the chuckle lost on her lips.

"So what do you do with a day off?"

"I usually work," she replied with a laugh. "But I've got some stuff to take care of in Denver. I should probably get going, though. Got an early flight, plus-"

"Yes, the cat. Why did you name her 'Zariel' again?"

"She's my little lion princess," Erika replied complete with sickening baby talk. She knew Daniel hated it when people talked like that. "Anyway, thanks for dinner and the beer. This was fun. See ya when I get back."

"Yeah," he answered with a shake of the head.

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Erika hated the smell of the elderly home. It smelled of isopropyl alcohol, arthritis cream, and death. The nurses never looked happy (although Erika could hardly blame them), and the old folks shuffled around with drool dangling from their slack lips. Erika absolutely hated the place, yet she sat in the small waiting room opposite the irritable MA who was looking up her father's records.

"Miss Sheppard?" she called out in her whinny voice. Erika cringed, but she stood and took the two steps to the front desk. The MA was crewing on the end of a pen as she scrolled through some unseen menus.

"Who are you here to see?" she asked. Erika wanted to lean across the counter and tear that pen out of her mouth. Instead, she squeezed her fingernails into her palms and counted to ten.

"Doctor Alexander Sheppard," she replied through clenched teeth. The MA looked up at her.

"Well, you don't have to snap," she snapped as she turned back to the computer. "Oh, I see. Nobody's visited Doctor Sheppard in quite some time. Too busy for your own father, huh?" She leaned on her elbow and eyed Erika with contempt. It was the proverbial straw.

She walked away instead of doing something stupid.

"Miss Sheppard? Miss Sheppard? You can't go back there without a visitor's pass. Miss Sheppard!" the woman shouted. Erika stopped and turned over her shoulder.

"It's Captain Sheppard," she shouted back. "I'm a captain in the United States Air Force, and why I haven't seen my father is none of your damn business. But I'm here now and I want to see my father." She held out her hand in demand of the visitor's pass. The MA stared at her for a moment before she reached under the counter and pulled out a visitor's badge. Erika yanked it away and clipped it on her bottom of her shirt as she stormed away.

The walk down the long hall always depressed her. The walls were sterile white and the open doors showed glimpses of little old men and women who could no longer remember who they were or where they were or why they were there. She could always feel the tears welling in her eyes as she neared her father's private room.

She stood in front of the door for a moment, steeling herself for what lay inside.

"Daddy?' she said as she cracked the door open. Her father, once a brilliant doctor of law, sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. He glanced up as she entered the room and frowned at her.

"Hello?" he said tentatively. Erika closed her eyes to stop the tears. It was going to be one of those days.

"Daddy, do you know who I am?" she asked as she sat next to him. "It's Erika, Daddy. I'm your daughter Erika. Do you remember?"

"Erika," he replied with some clarity. "Where's your mother? You shouldn't be out alone."

Erika could feel the tears trailing down her cheeks. She had long ago given up on telling him the truth. "Mom came by yesterday, Daddy. Don't you remember?" she prompted. He smiled fondly and Erika hoped he was remembering something wonderful about her mother, even if the memory never happened. He looked at her again, it was as if he was looking at her for the first time.

"Kathy?" he asked as he took her hand. Erika bit back a sob.

"No, Dad. I'm Erika. Mom's not here right now," she responded quietly as the tears flowed freely down her face.

"My daughter's name is Erika. Would you like to see a picture of her?" he asked. Erika nodded silently as she wrestled to control herself. He father stood and made his way to the small closet. He rummaged for a second before he returned with a shoebox Erika had seen on every visit. He sat next to her again and opened the box to reveal photos, cards, and other memorabilia from his past. He pulled out photos and cards and placed them on the bed. Photos of Erika's high school graduation and third grade play, cards from birthdays and holidays. An old photo of Erika's mother fell out from a pile of other photos and Erika picked it up to study it.

"Here," he father said and handed her a photo of herself when she was eight or nine. "That's my daughter. She's beautiful, and so talented. She's getting married soon, you know."

Erika chuckled. "Where did you hear that?"

He either ignored her or did not hear and continued. "And here, that's my son. He always sends me a birthday card, such a dear boy." He looked through the pile some more, and Erika believed he forgot about her until he looked up.

"Erika, where's Davy? He was going to visit," he said suddenly. Erika closed her eyes again. The truth was so painful for him. But the lie was painful for her.

"Davy's not coming today, Daddy. He…he can't come today."

"Oh," her father replied sadly, "he's such a good boy. Always did as he was told. Such as a good boy."

She sat in silence for a long while as he father rambled on and on about this and that from the past. He asked a few questions, and Erika was sure she answered them; she just could not remember what answers she gave. They must have satisfied her father, thought, because he would continue on with something else. Or maybe he just did not remember the questions. He handed her photos or cards to look at and she did. Soon she was lost in her own past, remembering things that were probably best forgotten.

"Erika?" he father asked and it broke her contemplation. He rarely had lucid moments where he remembered her name.

"Yes, Daddy?"

"Who is that? Do I know him?" Erika turned to where her father was pointing, and her jaw almost hit the floor. Standing in the doorway was Daniel.

"Wha-wha-Daniel? What are you doing here?" she asked in one breath. She almost tripped over her feet as she stood and rushed to him. She grabbed him by the arm and practically dragged him from the room. She managed a quick glance back into room, but her father already forgot about them and was rummaging through the nightstand.

"What are you doing here?" she asked again in a harsh whisper.

"Why are you whispering?" Daniel replied. Erika sighed and glanced back into the room.

"I don't want to upset my father. You still haven't answered my question, Daniel."

"I thought you could use some moral support," he answered as if it were obvious.

"How did you even know I was here?" she asked in disbelief. Moral support?

"I was, uh, looking for your cell number and found this address for your dad. I just thought-"

"You're a bad liar, Daniel. My cell number is programmed into the office phone and your cell phone. So are my home phone and pager numbers. How did you really find out?"

"Actually, there's a Tok'ra who just lost a host and we were looking for a possible new host. I saw that your father was in here and thought you'd like to know," he finally admitted. Erika hung her head and closed her eyes for a moment. She slowly turned and opened her eyes to watch as he father shuffled around the room, mumbling to himself.

"Daddy," she said as she went to him. She took his hands in hers and looked in his eyes. He looked back at her, but his eyes were cloudy with confusion. He did not even recognize her as he looked at her and it broke her heart.

"Daddy, I have to go now, but I'll see you again next month."

"My son is coming tomorrow. He's such a nice boy. You should meet him," he father replied. Erika felt the tears run down her cheeks anew as he father smiled at her.

"I know, Daddy. Let's put these away." She collected his things, put them back in shoebox, and put the box back in his closet. She kissed his check, but he hardly seemed to notice. She said goodbye again and turned to see Daniel still leaning against the doorframe.

"Want to get something to drink?" he asked as Erika strolled by. "We can talk about the possibilities of him being a host."

"Yeah, sure," Erika replied, although she did not really feel like talking. Visiting her father always left her emotionally drained. She walked by the desk and tossed the badge at the MA. The woman glared at her, but Erika could care less. She just wanted to go home and absorb herself in her work. The thought made her chuckle a little; she was more like her father than she was willing to admit.

They walked to a little café not far from the home where Daniel ordered a regular coffee and Erika ordered a vanilla latte and the biggest piece of chocolate cake they had. They sat in silence for a while as they waited for their orders.

"How long has he had Alzheimer's?" Daniel finally asked, breaking the silence. Erika looked up from her cake and sighed.

"There's no way to really know, but he was diagnosed last year."

"Must have been hard to put him a home, though."

"Actually, he put himself in there. He knew it would get worse, so he decided it would be better if he was in a place he could be taken care of. We did some research. It was just coincidence that Denver happened to be the one he picked," she explained quietly. "He just keeps getting worst."

"The Tok'ra could help with that," he prompted. Erika took a big bit of her cake. She chewed slowly as she thought about the proposal on the table. It did not take her very long to come to her decision.

"No."

"But-"

"No, Daniel. I can't do that to him. He wouldn't understand. He wouldn't even remember the conversation." She shook her head violently. "No. This is hard enough. I just want to get back home."

Daniel looked confused. "Isn't your brother coming in?"

Erika snorted. "My brother is servicing a life sentence in a maximum security prison for the criminally insane in California. He's never been to see my father and he never will be. Actually, he's not even allowed to be in the same state I'm in."

Daniel's confusion only escalated, so Erika elaborated. "He stabbed me in the back when I was 14. Twice. During his trial, he said he was sorry he didn't actually kill me. So…" She blew on her drink and took a sip as Daniel stared at her slack jawed.

"He tried to-"

"Yeah," she said as she scooped up the last bit of her cake. "Check please."

"So why does he think your brother's so good?" Daniel asked, obviously still confused. Erika wiped her mouth and folded her napkin over the empty plate.

"He thinks my mother visited him yesterday, but she died twenty years ago. He'll call me Erika one minute and then Kathy in the next thought. He just doesn't remember. And some things, he doesn't want to remember. It's just easier for him if I don't remind him."

"If you wanted, I'm sure General Hammond could arrange so you can visit every week," Daniel offered. Erika shook her head.

"Once a month is hard enough. Besides, it's what he wanted." She chuckled. "It's funny. The military trains you to withstand so much. I know how to survive in a blizzard and a desert with what's in a basic pack. I was taught how to resist mind control techniques and torture devices. I know how to fool a lie detector test. And after I was assigned to Area 51, I was trained in special opt techniques for just about everything. It never prepared me for this, though."

She closed her eyes as the tears started once again. She never wanted anyone to see her like this. Daniel put his hand on hers. "Nothing does."

"Yeah." She pulled her hand away and wiped her eyes. The check came and she dropped a ten on the tray. "I'm ready to go home."


	5. Chapter 5

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?  
Chapter 5**

A/N: Sorry this chapter is a little late. I had a bit of a problem with the ending. Anywho, thanks for the review for the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Small spoliers for _Avenger 2.0_

A/N 2: Thanks to Soccor-Bitch for pointing out a small error. It's fixed now. Thanks. :)

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"Daniel?"

"Yes, Erika?"

"This goes way beyond hate. I really hate you. Actually, I loathe you right now," she commented as she inched closer to him. Daniel put his arm around her and opened his jacket a little. Erika did the same so they could share body warmth.

"You didn't have to come, you know," he responded.

"Yes I did. It was a direct order, thanks to you. You didn't have to suggest it to General Hammond," Erika shot back. She shivered a little and Daniel pulled her tighter.

"I thought it would be a good experience for you. Besides, what else did you have planned today?"

"Fuck, it's cold," Erika replied instead.

"Aren't you trained to survive these kind of conditions?" he asked.

"Doesn't mean I like 'em". She rubbed at her arms with her hands, but it hardly helped. The wind shifted and the rain began pelting in her face. She shifted her coat and her foil blanket to lessen the freezing cold rain against her already cold face.

"It just went beyond loathing," she commented absently.

Daniel moved his own foil blanket. Erika could still feel him shivering and moved even closer to him. She removed her blanket and draped it over his shoulders. He looked up at her, surprise clearly etched across his face. Erika did not say anything as she pulled her jacket tightly around her body. She dropped her head to her chest to keep the freezing rain, more like slush than rain, from getting into her eyes.

She glanced at Daniel when she felt a weight being dropped over her shoulders. She smiled softly at him as she moved the shared blankets around her. She really was cold.

"The 'gate's dialing up," Daniel informed her as the lights around the Stargate lit up one by one. He stood slowly, leaving a cold draft at Erika's side. When the event horizon settled, he moved in front of the M.A.L.P.

"How are things, Doctor Jackson?" General Hammond's voice sounded over the radio. Daniel looked back. Erika followed his gaze to the raising waters.

"Oh, not good. Have you figured it out, yet?" she heard Daniel ask. She kept her eyes on the waters surrounding the Stargate and wondered if the DHD would work after it had been flooded. She hoped the Ancients figured in floods when designing the gate system.

"Major Carter is off world as we speak. She should have it fixed in a few hours," General Hammond replied. Erika shook her head.

"We don't have that long, Daniel," she murmured as she caught his eye.

"Um, we don't have hours, Sir," Daniel repeated. He looked back over his shoulder again. "We're gonna have to move to higher ground."

"Understood. Good luck, Doctor," General Hammond replied. Erika softly shook her head as she watched the waters.

The Stargate shut off and Daniel rejoined her huddled on the ground next to the M.A.L.P. She lifted up the blankets and he scooted next to her. They wrapped the blankets tightly around themselves, but it was still freezing. They shivered against each other in silence.

"If the water continues to rise at this rate, the DHD will be under water in an hour," Daniel replied, his thoughts clearing running parallel to Erika's. She closed her eyes and hoped for a miracle. SG-1 seemed to have a knack for pulling ideas out of their collective asses. She had to believe that they would get out of this one.

"Think they'll figure it out?" Erika asked after a long while. Daniel wrapped an arm around her and she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Well, if anyone can, Sam can," he replied.

"I guess that's reassuring," she replied as they watched the water rise. It was already to where the base of the DHD met the chevrons and still rising. The rain poured down in droves. Erika had long ago become soaked. She wondered if she would ever be warm and dry again. Her body quivered in response. At that moment the Stargate lit up.

"Daniel, we've got it," Carter said hurriedly. Daniel and Erika leapt to the their feet as the 'gate shut off. They ran to the edge of the water, but the DHD disappeared under the surface. Daniel cursed. He looked as if he was about to dive in when Erika stopped him

"Get these people ready to travel, Daniel," she commanded as she striped off her vest.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Don't argue with me, Daniel. Sergeant," she cried, "make sure these people get through the 'gate."

"Sir?"

"That's an order," she yelled as she striped her boats and socks and jacket.

"What are you doing, Erika?" Daniel asked.

"I'm dialing the 'gate," she replied matter-of-factly. The water lapped at her bare toes. It was freezing.

"You can't go in there like that."

"Yes I can. I'll sink with the gear on." She waded into the water without waiting for Daniel to say anything else. The water stung at her body. Oh God, it was so cold it numbed her and knocked the breath from her lungs. She took a moment to catch her breath again before she dived. Her head seemed to explode when it hit the water. She could not think straight for a moment it hurt so badly.

The DHD. It was just in front of her. She surfaced for another breath and dived again. Her fingers were frozen and she could hardly see the symbols, but somehow she managed to dial Earth. Her lungs burned as she surfaced again. She was exhausted even though she had not exerted that much energy. She could hardly feel her bare feet. Her hands felt like two blocks of ice. She tried to see if her mission was a success but her vision wavered. She felt the energy draining from her muscles and her body felt like dead weight.

Then everything went black.

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Was she dead? She couldn't be. She hurt too much to be dead. She thought that pain went away with dead, but her body felt stiff and sluggish. And cold. She was very cold. Wasn't death supposed to be all warm and fuzzy? She shifted, groaned, and cracked open her eyes.

"Hey, you're awake," a voice next to her said. Erika turned her head to the side to see Daniel sitting next to her. She closed her eyes and groaned again.

"Either we all died and somehow I've Ascended, or we made it. What happened?" she asked sleepily.

"You mean after you jumped into freezing cold water?" he asked coldly. Erika smiled sheepishly and uttered a little chuckle. She heard Daniel sigh heavily, but it only brightened her smile.

"Yeah, after that."

"It took three of us to pull you out of that water," he informed her. Erika shuddered. She was still freezing and the mention of the water brought back the memory of being colder. A new weight was added to her chest and she felt a little warmer. Not much warmer, but it was a start.

"Sorry about that," she whispered. She pulled the blankets closer around her body and snuggled into the warmth. She hoped that was all Daniel would say about her escapade into the frozen waters. She would bring up the fact that it possibly saved them, but she could not remember if she successfully dialed the Stargate or not. Plus, all she wanted was to slip back into blissful sleep.

"Captain Sheppard," Colonel O'Neill called out. Erika groaned and stuck her head out from under the covers. O'Neill stood over her on one side while Daniel still sat on the other. She bounced her gaze between the two, waiting.

"What the hell was that little stunt about?" O'Neill delivered on cue. Erika let the tiniest of smiles creep across her lips. She sobered and cleared her throat when O'Neill glared at her.

"I was just doing my job, Sir," she replied with as much spirit as she could muster.

"And which 'job' was that, Captain?"

"Jack!"

"Daniel!"

"To see to it that Daniel and the natives made it back through the Stargate, Sir," she replied as she eyed Daniel. "And I take that job very seriously, Sir."

"But freezing water?"

Erika chuckled weakly. "Yes, Sir."

"How was it?"

"Freezing, Sir."

"All right, Colonel," Janet Frasier interrupted as she approached the bed. "I think that's enough for today. Captain Sheppard should be resting." She turned her attention to Erika. "How are you feeling, Captain?"

"Cold," she replied honestly. Janet nodded understandingly.

"I'm not surprised. You're body temperature was below 95 degrees when they brought you back. From what Daniel's told me, you were only wearing a t-shirt and pants when you entered the water. Hypothermia set in quickly. We had a hard time raising your body temperature, so you're not out of the woods, yet. The best thing for you to do now is rest."

"No argument here," Erika mumbled, half way asleep already. Janet smiled.

"Good. Rest." She turned back to O'Neill and Daniel. "That means you two will have to come back later."

Daniel smiled as he stood. O'Neill patted Erika's leg through the covers before he left. Daniel rested his hand on her arm before he followed, leaving Erika with Janet. The doctor smiled down at her as she checked a few of the machines.

"Are you sure you're okay, Erika?" she asked. Erika nodded slowly. She could feel sleep reclaiming her even as she listened to Janet talk about how she needed to stay in bed for at least one more day. She let her eyelids slid shut and fell into a deep sleep.

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Erika sat hunched over the desk. There was a mound of paper work to her right and a stack of books to her left. Three separate journals were scattered in front of her, each containing the scribbled notes of one Doctor Daniel Jackson with her own notes added in the margins. She scanned one journal and added another note to the page she was working on. She blindly reached from her coffee cup and took a sip. It was cold, but at least it would keep her awake for a few more hours.

"Hey."

"Hey, you're back," Erika replied without looking up. She scribbled another line on the page and glanced at one of the journals to double check her work.

"Yeah. What are you doing?"

"You really let things pile up," she responded with a nod to the stack. Daniel walked around the table to stand over her shoulder.

"I let it pile up? That should read 'stairway to the gods' not-"

"You want to do this?" she interrupted. "And yes, you. In case you hadn't noticed, I've been in the infirmary for the last three days. And since I'm still not allowed off world, I thought I'd catch up on some work."

"You know, some people would take a vacation," Daniel stated as he continued to read over her shoulder. Erika sighed and turned to face her boss.

"What people would that be? Seriously, if you want to do this, I'll gladly move aside." Daniel just smiled. He picked up the next file in the stack and riffled through it.

"I'd actually like to talk to you about something," he said as he put the file back down. Erika sighed as she tucked her pen behind her ear. She expected this to be a long conversation, so she settled into the chair and made herself as comfortable as possible.

"Shoot."

"I never got a chance to thank you for, uh, dialing the-"

"Don't mention it, Daniel. It wasn't that big of a deal"

"You dived into that water to dial the gate. Why? I mean, you could have got the sergeant to do it. I would have done it."

"Right. Like I would have let you dive into that freezing water and end up with hypothermia. And I wasn't going to order another soldier to do what I wouldn't do myself. I was the only one going diving for DHDs," she quickly explained. "Besides, Colonel O'Neill would have killed me if I let you do it. You know the Colonel. I would never have lived it down."

"There is that."

"No one's told me if it worked. It did work, didn't it? I hate to think I got all cold for nothing."

"Um, no. Actually, Jack and Teal'c picked us up in their ship," Daniel replied slowly. Erika blinked twice as she stared at Daniel. Her jaw dropped slightly.

"Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c?" Daniel nodded. Erika closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the chair. She banged her head twice before she looked back at Daniel. She sighed and shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

"But you were very brave," Daniel offered. Erika rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Thanks." She pulled her pen out from behind her ear and turned back to the paper she had been translating. Daniel put a hand on her shoulder. Erika glanced at his hand and smiled.

"They're giving you a medal."

"I don't need a medal," she replied with a small, almost soundless, chuckle as she turned the page in one of the journals. Daniel sighed and started to leave.

"Hey Daniel." He looked back at her from the doorway. "Thanks."

He smiled at her and nodded. Erika returned the smile before she went back to work.


	6. Chapter 6

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?** **Chapter 6**

A/N: Holy shit, I updated! It's only been (checks date) a year and a half. I'm soooo sorry it took that long. Hopefully chapter 7 will be up much much sooner than that. Anywho, this chapter did not turn out how I was expecting it to turn out, which is probably why I spent so long thinking about it and writing it. In the end, I like how it turned out. Sorry if Daniel sounds a bit OOC at the end. I haven't written him in a looong time.

Anywho, on with the story. Thanks for everyone who is still interested in this story. Again, sorry it took so long. Enjoy! As always, comment is welcomed and appreciated.

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Erika paced the small space around her office. She stared at her socked feet and drummed a rhythmless tune on her blue cargos with the palms of her hands as she walked with slow, steady steps. After a few minutes, she changed to tapping her fingertips on the desk each time she walked past it. When her hands were not occupied by the tapping, they were playing with her chest length milk chocolate hair. She ran her hands under her hair, over her hair, twisted strands through her fingers, and tugged out as many knots as she made. Occasionally, she glanced up at the stack of papers and reports that sat pushed to one side and neglected on her desk. With a sigh, she dropped her honey gaze back to her white cotton socks and the ugly blue-green carpet.

She wondered briefly if Daniel was still alive, but she forced that horrific thought firmly away before she had a chance to completely form it. She was not, WAS NOT, going to think about that. Of course, once she decided not to think about it, it was all she could think about. She could see it: Daniel's mutilated body lying in the jungle, half eaten by some jungle predator; Daniel being tortured, his body slowly cut to shreds; Daniel screaming in pain and terror. She stopped her office wanderings and slammed her eyelids shut over the images, gently rubbing at them with her thumb and forefinger. The images lingered despite her efforts to erase them from her memory.

"Erika?" a soft voice called from the doorway. Erika jerked her head, thankful for the interruption that finally caused the nightmares to fade to black, to find a young man around her own age leaning over the threshold with his hand on the door jam. Judging from the worried look splashed across his face and the urgent undertone in his voice, Erika guessed it was not the first time he called out to her.

"Hey, Ben," she replied wearily. She pulled her hair tie from her wrist and pulled her hair into a quick, messy bun. Ben watched her for a moment before he took a hesitant step into the office. Erika noticed as he gaze shifted from her disheveled appearance to the mess stacked on her desk to the heels of her combat boots peaking out from behind the file cabinets.

"How you holding up?" he asked, his voice almost casual, but Erika heard the veiled concern. She offered him a weak smile as she sank into the black leather desk chair, casually shuffling a few stray papers on to the larger piles.

Dr. Benjamin Holden worked as a researcher in the bio labs. He was a brilliant DNA analysis or so he said, although Erika did not really understand what that entailed. He started at the SGC a few months ago, and they bumped into each other while Erika was grabbing a quick breakfast. Literally. He spilled hot coffee over her shirt as she dumped her egg burrito on to his shoes. They shared a good laugh about it over lunch, which was predictably interrupted by Daniel. One thing led to another and by the end of the first month, he was sleeping over at her apartment on a regular basis.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," she lied, "Why won't I be fine? Just trying to catch up on some work." Ben dropped his hand on top of hers and lightly squeezed. Erika stopped uselessly shuffling papers, looked into his kind green eyes and smiled weakly.

"You're not 'fine,' Erika," he replied. Erika frowned as she gently removed her hand from underneath Ben's and continued to straighten her desk. "When was the last time you went home? Hell, when was the last time you slept? Damn it, Erika," he slammed his hand on the edge of the desk, causing her to startle, "talk to me."

"Christ, Ben," she yelled, but her temper died down quickly. She sighed and pulled her knees to chest, resting her head on her crossed arms. He sat in the empty chair opposite of the desk. "Christ, Ben," she repeated quietly. "It's been a long fucking few days." They sat for a long moment in awkward silence, the only noise the faint hum of the daily activity in the hall. Finally Erika lifted her, dropped her feet to the ground and picked up the top folder. She flipped it open and thumbed through it, ignoring Ben as she read the brief.

"Erika," he finally said, "take a break. Come have dinner with me."

"I can't. I have work to do," she replied, never taking her eyes from the report. Dr. Sero wanted to excavate an old Jaffa city that SG-8 found two weeks back. His preliminary analysis was interesting. She would bring it to Daniel when he got back.

"Erika," Ben repeated. "Just take thirty minutes and grab a bit to eat with me."

"I have to finish these, Ben. I've hardly had any time to do any work since…" she hesitated. "I just need to make a dent in this paperwork." Ben sighed, but he stood.

"Come over when you're done," he said as he paused at the threshold. "I'll make something." Erika glanced up at that.

"ETC for Colonel O'Neill's mission is 0200," she replied slowly. Ben scowled.

"Oh, I get it. You'd rather wait here than with your boyfriend. So what am I, some substitute because you can't have Dr. Jackson?" he suddenly yelled. He re-entered the office and slammed the door behind him. "We hardly spend any time together when he's here. You follow him around here and follow his every order like you're his fucking slave. What the fuck, Erika? I mean, what the fuck! I want to help you and you just want to stay here and wait for fucking Jackson to come back. Can't you do a fucking thing without his fucking permission?"

"Jesus Christ, Ben! I thought we fucking talked about this. He's my fucking boss and he's missing. He was fucking kidnapped in the fucking worst place in the world," Erika screamed back as she stood.

"That's the point, damn it. He's your fucking boss, Erika. You think he'd stay here all night if it were you out there? You think he'd give a fucking damn? I sure as hell would, but you don't even give a damn about that."

"You have no idea how wrong you are," Erika replied, her voice eerily calm after Ben's yelling fit. Ben stopped and stared at her when he heard the tension in that clip statement. "Daniel is more than my boss. He's my friend. Hell, he's practically family, and he's the only one I've got. The only reason I'm still here is because I couldn't be out there getting him the hell out of that shit hole. And he would do that exact same thing for me."

Ben stood before her, his mouth hanging slightly open as he stared at her. She watched as his resolve changed, his eyes, hard green stones, softened and he took a step forward. "Erika…" he hesitated.

"I have work to do. Close the door on your way out," she said in Ben's moment of hesitation. She turned her back on him and picked up the file again. She closed her eyes against the threatening tears when she heard the office door click shut a moment later.

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Erika stabbed her finger on to the page with satisfaction. She maneuvered her way around the desk as she moved her finger along the page. She stopped in front of the second of four chalkboards set up around the room. She erased a few words from underneath the foreign text and replaced them with a more accurate translation. She leaned back on the desk to double check her work. With a smile, she snapped the book shut. She sighed, stretched her arms above her head, and began picking up the mess she made of office. It was late. She would stop by the infirmary on her way out to make sure Daniel was all right. To make sure it was not just a dream.

"I thought you were suppose to go home." she heard from the door.

"I thought you were suppose to be on bed rest. You were held hostage, you should be resting," she replied without looking up. Daniel picked up one of her notebooks off the floor and handed it to her. Erika took it and absently placed it on a shelf as she picked up a few stray coffee cups.

"You changed this," he commented. Erika glanced back at the chalkboard.

"Yeah. I stumbled upon some additional research while I was looking up something else. Just followed the breadcrumbs." She shrugged. She could feel Daniel's gaze on her back.

"Where's Dr. Holden? Doesn't he usually stop by about now?" he casually asked as he checked his watch. Erika paused in her cleaning. She closed her eyes, swallowed the lump in the throat, and took a deep breath.

"Yeah. I don't think Ben will be coming around anymore," she answered, her voice quivering only slightly. She swept a few pens into the top drawer of the desk just to do something. She barely had time to think about her fight with Ben yesterday, and she really did not want to think about it now.

Daniel placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder, but Erika shrugged it off. She stretched her hands out in front of her and stretched her neck side to side. She plastered a smile on her face as she turned around to face Daniel for the first time since he entered the office.

"So, when do we get to take a look at this box you found?" she asked, falsely cheerful. Daniel sighed and readjusted his glasses, hiding his frown behind the motion.

"It's being catalogued and photographed," he replied slowly. "We'll have the photographs tomorrow. Maybe you should go home, Erika."

Erika nodded. "Yeah, yeah, of course. I haven't been home in a few days. I'm sure Zariel misses me. Of course I should go home. I was actually on my way out before you stopped by," she said, the steam running out of her speech as she came to an end. She waved her hands around a little, but they dropped to her sides as she finished. She glanced down at her feet and clasped her hands in front of her. "Of course."

She could feel Daniel staring at her, but did not really care. She knew she was crumbling, and she knew he knew it as well. With her fingers entwined, she half pointed, half twisted her hand towards Daniel. "I'll be in early tomorrow. You know, to help with the artifact." She smiled brightly at him, but it quickly faded into a sigh and a distance stare.

"Erika," Daniel said softly. Erika lifted her head and focused on him. "Tomorrow's Thursday." She narrowed her brows in confusion. "It's the first Thursday of the month, Erika."

Erika closed her eyes and grimaced. "Shit. Dad." She sighed deeply and hung her head. "I'll be in, um, later in the afternoon, I guess. I don't know." Suddenly exhausted, Erika dropped the last of her notebooks into a sloppy, uncaring pile on the desk and rummaged in the bottom drawer for her tote bag. She pulled it out and shouldered it in one smooth movement.

"I'm taking the day off tomorrow if you need some company," Daniel offered. Erika turned to him, noticed the hint of smile slashed across his face, and smiled gratefully.

"Daniel, I would lov…" she paused and breathed out, "I can't ask you to come sit with me. I'm sure you have important things to do."

Daniel shook his head as he slung an arm around shoulders. He led her out of her office, turning the lights off as they went. "Not really."


	7. Chapter 7

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?** **Chapter **7

A/N: Holy crap, two updates in one week. I'm on a roll this week. Guess the ol' Muse is finally back. So this story takes place during the episode _Fallout_ in season 7. I got the dialogue for the episode from Stargate Sg-1 Transcripts (). If you like it, please send me a review. And if you don't like, send me a review, too. Thanks.

On a side note, chapter 8 probably won't be up for a while due to school and work and personal life. I promise it won't take another year, though. ;)

Enjoy!

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Erika focused her gaze at the blank wall. She let her mind wander to all the ways she could physically hurt the man in front of her without actually leaving a mark. The list was surprising long. She could make an even longer list of ways she could kill him, although she figured the SGC might have some problems with that. But it was the only way she could keep the sneer from her lips as talks continued. It took every ounce of her military training to not roll her eyes as the Councilor from Andarrie demanded a separate planet for the country.

"Three separate relocations are just not practical. Madronas is your best bet to save as many lives as possible," Daniel replied after the bickering subsided. Erika watched with growing satisfaction as Daniel dropped his glasses to the table and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was the signal that the talks were rapidly coming to an end for the day.

"Why don't we take a break?" he asked when he returned his glasses to their rightful place. "We'll meet again in," he glanced at his watch, "four hours." He did not wait for the others to reply before he stood. He glanced back at Erika, making brief eye contact. Erika nodded to Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond before followed Daniel out of the briefing room and down the stairs.

"Daniel?"

"Yes, Erika," he replied exasperated.

"Why the hell am I sitting in on these stupid meetings?" she asked, her voice a little louder than she intended. Daniel momentary looked at her out of the corner of his eye, but he did not say anything.

Erika pressed on. "There are so many other things I could do. We still have one side of the box to translate. There is a pile of stuff from Sero's dig that needs to be photographed and categorized. I'd be willing to do all that paperwork that's stacked on your desk. Anything but stand in that room."

"No."

"What? Why not?"

"Because I'm in there."

For a moment, the only sound was the echo of their boots as they walked down the hall in matched steps.

"I hate you," Erika mumbled just loud enough for Daniel to hear. Daniel shrugged.

"Yeah, because I haven't heard that before."

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"Oh' for crying out loud," O'Neill yelled to the room, interrupting the squabbling council members.

"Jack," Daniel warned.

"Who cares whose fault it is?"

"Jack."

"Your planet is gonna blow up!"

"Jack!" Daniel finally yelled.

"The whole damn planet, Daniel!" O'Neill yelled back. The room filled with tense silence. Erika looked from O'Neill to Daniel. She could see the anger and frustration clearly etched on their faces as they stared at each other.

"Okay. I think it's best if we all just take a little recess right now," Daniel finally suggested.

"God." O'Neill was out of the chair before the word was barely out of his month. He moved toward the door, Daniel hot on his heels.

"General," O'Neill stated absently as he walked out of the door. Teal'c nodded as he followed. Daniel barely even looked at anyone else as he walked out. Erika looked around the room, her eyes catching General Hammond's. He nodded at her.

"Captain," he said dismissively.

"I say we send a packet," O'Neill was saying when Erika caught up to them in the hallway. Erika followed them at a discrete distance, but close enough to still hear the conversation. Daniel glanced back at her, but O'Neill and Teal'c hardly noticed she was there.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed with a nod of his head.

"We can't give up on them yet, we still have the potential to save thousands of lives here," Daniel insisted as they continued toward the elevator.

"And yet curiously, they don't seem to understand or care," O'Neill replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"This is diplomacy, this is the way the game is played. It takes patience."

"Yeah? Well I'm fresh out," Jack ranted as he pressed the up button.

"As am I," Teal'c agreed.

The elevated arrived and the two stepped in, leaving Daniel and Erika in the hallway.

"I think you're on your own," Jack said as the doors closed. Daniel rubbed his temples.

"Great, just great," he drawled. He slowly turned and scrutinized Erika with his piercing blue eyes. Erika titled her head to the side.

"Yees?" she replied, drawing out the word into two syllables.

"You can work on something else if want," he replied, his chest deflating in defeat. "These talks are pointless. I don't think these people can agree on anything. Why don't you start on that mountain of paperwork?"

Erika smirked as she took a step forward until they were almost touching. She was almost as tall as Daniel and easily ruffled his short brown hair. He took an embarrassed step back, staring at her as if she had lost her mind. Without explanation, she turned on her heel and strolled down the hallway to their office.

Four hours later, when she showed up at the door to the briefing room for round two, he frowned at her. She smirked at his confusion, slightly enjoying it.

"I thought I told you that you didn't have to be here," he said slowly, as if she had not understood the first time. Erika chuckled softly as she looked at him, her amusement shining through honey-brown eyes.

"I know. I got through some of those reports you're suppose to be doing."

"And…"

"And now I'm taking a break from those. I can't look at your chicken scratch handwriting for one more minute. Jeez, Daniel, think you would write any more illegibly. I have to type those, you know, and I just guess on what some of it actually says."

"My writing is fine," Daniel replied, his tone sounding annoyed. The hint of a smile in his eyes said otherwise. Erika just shrugged. "Just keep telling yourself that. And don't get mad at me if General Hammond gets a report of grabbled nonsense."

Daniel held the door open for her. "My writing isn't that bad," he reiterated as she entered the briefing room. She took her usual place standing behind him as the delegates entered the room, still arguing about some inane comment made during the earlier meeting. Erika leaned over Daniel to whisper in his ear.

"Are you sure we have to do this? Can't we just tell them to figure it out for themselves?" she asked. Daniel tried to hide his grin behind a fake cough.

"Erika," he mumbled. He paused as he glanced around the room, "We'll see."

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Erika sat at her desk, her fingers flying over her keyboard as she typed in Daniel's notes about the delegates from Langarra. She shook her head slightly as she read Daniel's comments about the council members. They had been sent back to their planet a few hours after Major Carter and Jonas Quinn gave the all clear. She said her brief goodbyes to the former SG-1 member and left to finish her project.

She heard his measured walk, his boots hitting the tiled floor, before she saw him. "Never again," she said as he came into the room.

"Huh?"

"I'm never doing that again. Those people were pains in the asses."

"Yes. Although they seemed to be getting along a little better after Jack's little stunt." He leaned over her shoulder and glanced at the handwritten report she was typing up. "My writing isn't that bad."

Erika doubled up over the keyboard, her laughter exploding from her in short bursts. She covered her mouth with both hands as she sat up, trying in vain to contain her giggles. She was almost sober when she caught Daniel's glare, and she lost it again, laughing so hard she was almost crying. She waved her hand in front of her face before leaning her forehead against her loosely balled fist.

"Oh my God, Daniel. I had honestly forgotten all about that," she finally said when she calmed down enough to speak. "It got to you that much?" A small chuckle escaped through her lips, but she tried to cover it by clearing her throat. She could feel the smile creeping over her face and tried to remain stoic as she looked at her boss. It was all in vain when she caught his eye a second time.

"I don't think I told you how much I hate you today," Daniel said as he watched her laughing. There was silence for the smallest of moments before Erika lost what little composure she had left. She could hardly breath she was laughing so hard.

"Hey," she managed to say in between her fits, "isn't that my line?" She could see his face crack into a smile and he chuckled with her.

"Yeah yeah," he replied quickly. "You almost done with that, because I have a stack of my chicken scratch reports that I need you to type. I'll be in the work room when you're done."

"Just leave them on the desk with the others. And I could get them done faster if you wrote neater," she called after him.

Erika chuckled to herself after Daniel left the office. All told, it was just another day at the office.


	8. Chapter 8

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?** **Chapter 8**

A/N: Sorry this one took a little longer. The weird thing is, the first part of this chapter has been written for about a year now. I've wanted to put this in so many times, so here it is. The second part of this chapter, though, took me a while to write. I think I re-wrote it at least 3 times. Hope you guys like it. Let me know by reviewing it. :)

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Everything was dark. Her head pounded as if a thousand horses were tap dancing on her skull. Her memory was fuzzy. She had gone through the 'gate with SG-11 on a diplomatic mission. Every thing after that was blank. They arrived on the other side, and…nothing. She could not remember. Had they been attacked? Where was the rest of her team? She had to get up. She had to find out what the hell happened. She tried to open her eyes.

Nothing happened.

She tried to move her hand.

Again nothing.

She could feel the panic creeping into the back of her mind as she tried to move her foot. She tried to calm herself, tell herself that everything was going to be fine when nothing happened. She tried to thrash, to turn her head, but she could not move. She tried to scream, but the words would not form. The panic rose as she realized for the first time that she could not feel any of her limbs. She could not feel anything against her skin. Oh God, she could not feel anything. Oh God, what was wrong with her? What the fuck happened to her? Why couldn't she feel her body?

Maybe she was dead. Or maybe it was like that book _Johnny Got His Gun._ Maybe she was completely paralyzed or had lost her arms and legs. Maybe she was just some thinking hunk of torso lying in the infirmary of the SGC. Or worst, on some remote planet where no one would find her. Maybe every one already thought she was dead.

"Erika?"

_Daniel?_ she tried to say before she remembered she could not talk. Daniel. She was in the SGC. Thank God she was in the SGC. _I'm alive, Daniel,_ she thought desperately. Was it her imagination or was the blackness fading? Instead of pitch black she could see gray. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, the gray faded to blurs and the blurs finally faded to reveal Daniel hovering over her with towers of medical equipment standing guard behind him. Erika felt a tiny wave of relief wash over her. She could see. It was a start at least.

"Daniel?" Was that her voice? She had not said anything. Her arm moved as if on its own and everything came rushing back to her. Oh fuck.

_No, Daniel! It's not me! Don't listen, Daniel!_ But it was no use. No matter how much she wanted to scream, no sound came out. If she could have she would have slumped back in the bed, but having no control of her body put a big damper on that. Instead she resided to listen to Daniel. It was the only thing she could do.

"SG-11 didn't make it, Erika. I'm sorry," he informed her. Erika would have loved to clench her fists. Of course SG-11 was dead. She killed them. No, _it_ killed them while she was a helpless prisoner in her own body. She had been forced to witness the death of her team, her friends, by her own hand. Oh God, they were dead and she had been powerless to stop it. She did not want to live like this for the remaindered of her days; and living as a host meant she could have a lot of days ahead of her. She absolutely did not want to fucking live like that for the rest of her life. She would find a why out of this. She would find a way to warn Daniel of the danger. She had to.

_Hear that, Snaky! You won't win!_ she screamed. She hoped that bastard heard her.

"You should rest," Daniel was saying. "Besides, Dr. Frasier will want to do a CAT scan."

Yes, a CAT scan_._ Erika forgot about the CAT scan! It would save her.

"I want to get back to work. We're so close," the Goa'uld replied for her. Daniel smiled and Erika felt like smacking him.

"Erika, you were pretty beat up when we found you. You'd better rest some more."

"Really, Daniel, I'm fine." Erika saw Daniel frown and knew warning bells had started going off in his head. If any one could figure out it was not really her, it was Daniel. She just hoped he would figure it out in time.

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt. I could use the help," he replied hesitantly. Stupid jackass.

It was a weird sensation to watch the walls move by as she walked down the corridor even through she could not feel the actual movement. When she recognized where she was going, she started to resist. But her body did not respond. They continued toward their office.

_Daniel!_ Erika tried to scream. Damn it. How the hell could she regain control of her body? She knew it was possible. She had read reports of people resisting their Goa'uld parasites before. Even if it was only for a second, it might be enough to warn Daniel that there was a spy among them.

Fuck, Daniel, you better figure it out because I'm only going to have one chance at this, she thought. One shot.

They came around the corner and Daniel opened the office door for her. They entered, her eyes moving over the space. They rested on the chalkboard in the far corner of the room. Without thinking, Erika translated the first few words of the text from memory.

"The Lost City," the Goa'uld said in her voice. Fuck. Erika stopped translating, forcing herself to blank out the words. She felt something forcing at her memory, trying to force the knowledge from her. She resisted, focusing her mind, the way Daniel had taught her during one of their few meditation sessions, on nothing. The Goa'uld persisted its mental attack, breaking down her barriers. It became to harder to hold onto the nothing, the blank whiteness fading to memories she did not want to Goa'uld to share.

"Yeah, I left it up there for you to translate" Daniel replied, obviously oblivious to the inner power struggle between his assistant and her subjugator. "Doesn't that at least earn me a snide comment? You sure you're all right?" He looked up.

"I'm fine," the Goa'uld replied, offering enough of a distraction for Erika to reestablish her mental blockade. She knew she could not keep it up much longer when the Goa'uld started its barrage again.

If the Goa'uld broke through it was all over. It was now or never. She pictured her hand and concentrated as hard as she could. She felt the Goa'uld pushing against her again, but she ignored it. She could feel her defenses falling and redoubled her efforts to concentrate on her hand.

Slowly feeling began to return into the limb. At first it was just pins and needles, like she had been leaning on it for too long. It was for a moment, just a short-lived moment, that she could feel the smooth finish of the desk beneath her palm. The Goa'uld broke her mental defenses and the sensation vanished just as quickly as it had come. Her head jerked up and she saw Daniel's eyes go wide and his hand reach for the phone. And then she saw nothing.

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"I want to talk to Erika."

"Nothing of the host survives," the Goa'uld replied.

"We know that's not true. Let's talk to Sheppard."

"Nothing of the host survives."

She could not even summon the strength of mind to reply to the thing. She felt broken. The Goa'uld broke her mind down and she could barely register the conversation around her. She wondered briefly if it would get worst the longer she was a host, but the thought slipped away before she could grasp it firmly. It didn't matter. She was powerless against it. She could only watch from her prison.

"All right," O'Neill said. "How about you tell us just what the hell you were sent here to do?"

"Anubis will destroy you and enslave this planet," the Goa'uld replied.

"Ah uh. And just when might he do that?" O'Neill asked.

"I will tell you nothing else."

"We have ways of making you talk," O'Neill threatened. Daniel's eyes widened.

"And I will kill this girl if you do." Suddenly it felt as if every nerve in Erika's body was on fire. A scream tore through her throat as she clenched her hands into fists. Daniel rushed at the cell, griping the bars in his hands.

"Erika," he yelled. Erika managed to look at him.

"Kill me," she whispered. The pain stopped, the control gone as the Goa'uld took her body again. Daniel's face was contorted in anger, O'Neill stood impassive, his hands still in his pockets. His eyes were hard stones, though.

"The Tok'ra are on the way," Daniel said through gritted teeth. "Hear that, Erika. We're getting that damn thing out of you."

"And just to make sure you don't kill her first," O'Neill pulled the zat from his thigh holster and shot.

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Erika bolted up right. The motion made the room spin and her head throb. She lay back with a groan and closed her eyes, hoping to make the dizziness stop. It only made it worst. She rolled to her side and threw up over the edge of the bed. The hand on her back startled her. She lifted her head to glance over her shoulder. Daniel sat on the bed next to her, his blue eyes clouded with worry, his forehead creased as he rubbed her back. Erika tried to say something, but her stomach protested and she spilled bile over the edge of the bed a second time.

A glass of water appeared in her hand as she sat up. She rinsed her mouth out before taking a shallow sip. She could feel the bile rising in her throat a third time but took a few deep breaths to calm her twisting stomach. She took another experimental sip of the water.

"How are you feeling?"

"Ugg," was all she managed to get out before her stomach protested to the new addition and demanded to be emptied once more. Erika accommodated her stomach. All over the bed and Daniel's leg. She groaned as she sat back on the bed and almost chuckled at the disgusted look plastered on Daniel's face as he stared at the bile on his pant leg.

"Sorry," she was finally able to say.

"Yeah," he replied, barely keeping the repulsion out of his voice. "Let's move you to a clean bed."

Erika just nodded her agreement as he helped her stand. The room spun for a second and she tripped over her feet, but strong arms caught her and guided her to a second bed. She sat heavily, her legs hanging over the side, her head in her hands while she steadied her breathing and her nausea. When she felt that she would not throw up again, she lay back. The glass of water reappeared in front of her, but she waved it away, not wanting a repeat of earlier.

"What happened?" Even as she asked, the fuzzy, muted memories focused into crystal clarity.

"You don't remember?" she heard Daniel reply, but it barely registered as she replayed that horrible day over in her mind. It was not the nightmare she had hoped. It was real. It was all fucking real.

"They're all dead," she whispered as she stared at the crisp bed sheet. "Oh fuck, they're dead and I couldn't stop it, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop it. It was Anubis. He's knows about Osiris, about how we stopped her. He knows everything-"

"Erika," Daniel interrupted her. "We know. You've been out of it for a couple of days now. The Tok'ra interrogated the Goa'uld. It's okay."

"Yeah, it's okay," she whispered as she settled back down on the bed. "You figured it out." She looked up at him and held his gaze for the first time since she woke up. He nodded slowly as he wiped his pants with the edge of the spoiled sheet.

"The glowing eyes kind of gave it away."

"Yeah."

Silence filled the room as they looked at each other. Erika looked away first. She twisted the bedding in her fingers. Her eyes were glued to an unremarkable spot on the floor. Briefly, she wondered why Dr. Frasier had not been called yet, but she did not dwell on the thought. She did not really want to see anyone else at the moment, anyway. She was not sure if she would be able to look them in the eye. It had been hard enough to face Daniel, and he was like a brother to her. Or maybe a very close cousin.

"Do you want to talk about it?" his voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. She looked up again to find him studying her. She tried to respond, but the words caught in her throat. Talk about it. She knew she should talk about it, but she was not sure if she could. The tears began to well in her eyes even as she thought about it.

The bed dipped as he sat next to her again. "It might help."

"Yeah," she responded slowly. "Yeah, it might. Will you just…promise you won't hate me afterwards?"

Daniel smiled. "I think I can do that."


	9. Chapter 9

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?**

**Chapter 9**

A/N: The _Heroes_ chapter. Hope you like it. Spoilers for _Heroes Part 1_ and _Heroes Part 2_

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She awoke with a start, her body drenched in a cold sweat. It took a moment to struggle with the damp sheets before she was freed from her bed. She sat with her bare feet resting lightly on the dark carpet, her head in her hands, trying to calm her fried nerves. It was only a second or two later that she rose and cautiously threaded her way through discarded clothing and cat toys towards the bathroom. She flipped the light switch, turned the faucet to cold and splashed the clear liquid on her clammy skin. The cold helped to clear her head and chase away the nightmares. Blindly, she groped for the nearby towel and wiped her face clean. She caught her reflection in the mirror as she replaced the towel on its hook. With a sigh, she leaned against the sink and studied herself.

"You look like shit," Erika commented softly as she took in the dark, puffy circles under her eyes, the greasy, tangled mess of her hair, and the pull at the corners of her mouth. She forced herself from the unseemly sight with a harsh grunt, flicked the light back off and went back to bed. She lay on her back, her feet crossed at her ankles, her covers pulled to her chin, and stared at the black ceiling. But as exhausted as she was, she could not make herself close her eyes. Every time she closed her eyes, the nightmares returned.

She looked down the barrel of her sidearm, the muzzle inches from Lieutenant Haugenson's forehead. He knelt in the dirt before her, his face filled with contempt. It wasn't always Haughenson. Sometimes it was Airman Miller, or sometimes it was Burns. Sometimes, most of the time, it was Dave.

Captain David Burkman.

Dave was her fellow officer, her comrade, her friend. They went on more than a few missions together. She occasionally ate lunch with him, when they were both planet side. They played poker, and drank, and smoked cigars every Thursday. She kicked his ass at _Soul Calibur_ _II®_ and he kicked hers at racing games in the rec. room. And the worst part of it all wasn't the fact that she'd been forced to watch as he knelt before her, her gun to his head. Or the fact that she couldn't turn her head or close her eyes as the muzzle flashed and the bullet exploded into his skull. It was the fact that his face with filled with understanding, forgiveness even, when it happened.

It killed her inside to remember that look on his face. That little half smile was plastered on his lips as he stared up at her, and his green eyes spoke volumes to her. She turned her head to the side, the pillow cooling her warm cheeks, and closed her eyes, willing the memories and nightmares away. Minutes of tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling and watching the bright red numbers of her digital clock cycle through made her realize that sleep would not claim her again that night. With a sigh, she tossed the covers back. She scratched Zariel's ears as she stood and rummaged through the wrinkled cloths on the floors before some that were clearer than the rest. With another sigh, she dressed.

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She was exhausted. She could feel her eyelids sliding closed as she typed. Her fingers rested on the keyboard for a moment before her eyes shot back open again. She rubbed at her sore orbs with the palms of her hands, trying to get them to focus on the page of notes resting next on the desk. But the letters blurred and jumped around, and she could not make sense of the writing.

"Go home."

Erika snapped her eyes open even though she did not remember closing them. She swiveled in her chair to see Daniel flipping through a file at the open file cabinet. She frowned at his profile and watched as his lips turned up in a smirk.

"I'm fine," she replied as she turned back to her computer. When she looked at the page of notes again, the words were once again normal. She huffed and began typing the report a second time. The click of fingers striking keys was the only noise in the room.

"You were staring at the page for twenty minutes," Daniel finally informed the captain. Erika shifted her eyes to the side, but did not slow her typing. "You're not 'fine', Erika. You should have taken more time off."

"A couple of days was more than enough," Erika replied more harshly than she meant over her shoulder. She heard a sigh, followed by the sound of the file cabinet closing. Strong, warm hands rested lightly on her shoulders. Her hands paused over the keyboard and she closed her eyes. "I just…I'm fine. I'm just tired is all."

"Still having those nightmares?" he asked as he squeezed her shoulders. Erika shrugged his hands off "It's only been a month, Erika. Take it easy, all right."

"I'm fine, Daniel," Erika reiterated as she began her work again. She heard the archeologist sigh and looked over her shoulder. The file was back in his hand, but he was not looking at it. His eyes were on her, his brow creased with worry. Erika took pity on him, "Yeah, but they're getting better. Well, they're not as frequent, anyway. Last night was just…I really am fine, Daniel. Working helps. Keeps the mind busy. I couldn't stay at home one more day."

He nodded. "The camera crew is coming tomorrow," he changed subjects.

"I got the memo."

"They want to interview you."

"I got that memo, too," Erika replied with a frown.

"You don't have to do it."

Erika sighed as she turned back to her report. "Yes, I do."

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She tried to smile at the airman as he adjusted the microphone on her blue shirt, but she was nervous and knew her face reflected it. She let the smile fall and closed her eyes instead. Erika took a deep breath.

"There's nothing to be nervous about, Captain," Bregman assured her. Erika let the breath out in a long sigh.

"Yeah, of course," she replied without conviction. The airman stepped away without looking at her. The camera was set over Bregman's shoulder as the director looked around.

"All right. We ready?" he asked his two man crew. Both nodded.

"We're here with Captain Erika Sheppard of the United States Air Force. Captain, how are you doing today?"

She felt the camera on her and the nervousness only increased. She was sure that anyone who watched the film would know that she wanted to be anywhere but in front of that camera. She swallowed and smiled, although it felt unnatural, fake, and instead of replying, "Awkward and nervous," she replied, "I'm fine, thanks."

"Good, good. Why don't you explain what you do at the SGC?" Bregman asked.

"Of course," she replied slowly. "I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson's personal and research assistant. Basically, all that means is that I help Dr, Jackson in his research, I translate documents and artifacts, I type reports, those sorts of things. It's a lot of paperwork."

"So you don't go off world? Is that the correct term?"

Erika could not help the smile that parted her lips. "Yes, that's correct. And I do go off world quite often. I manage some of Dr. Jackson's dig sites and I help with dig sites of the other archeologists on the team. I also go on diplomatic missions, and I've helped Dr. Jackson with evacuations a few times," she quickly explained. She saw Bregman crinkle his forehead and wondered if she was boring him. She hoped so. Maybe if he found her boring, he'd wrap up the interview and she could go on with her day.

"But you're not on a specific gate team?" he asked with a frown as he looked over the top sheet of paper clipped to a plastic clipboard.

"That's right," Erika replied cautiously.

"And that's because you're not cleared for active duty, correct?"

---------Flashback------------

"Hey, Lindsay!"

"Squad Captain Sheppard," her friend replied with a smart salute. She held it for only a second before she broke into a huge smile and hugged Erika. "Congrats on your promotion. I can't believe they made you a squad captain."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Erika replied with a chuckle and a smile. She gave her friend a harmless punch on the shoulder. "Besides, how else are you going to be my second?"

"Yeah. You mean it? That's great. I heard they're going to be some big higher-ups at the next drill," Lindsay replied as the two young women made their way across the Air Force Academy yard to their next class. Erika glanced side long at her friend with disbelief.

"And just where did you hear that?"

"I have my sources," her friend replied mysteriously with a sly smile.

"Isn't there some rule about sleeping with the instructors?" Erika asked, trying to keep the smile out of her voice.

"He's not my instructor. Besides, how would I get all the gossip?" Erika laughed and put her arm around her friend's shoulders.

"Can you believe it, Linds? We're almost done! Only a few more months to go."

"I know," her friend replied, "Think we'll get stationed together?" Erika could only grin at her friend as she replied, "I know it"

-------------end---------------

"Captain Sheppard?" Erika looked up, jolted from her memory.

"What? Oh, um, no, that's not...I'm not on combat duty. I'm on active duty, just not cleared to combat. Basically, I have a desk job that requires some travel," she replied, hoping she answered the correct question. "I have an old knee injury."

"It says here that you were shot during an exercise in the Academy. Is that correct? Can you explain what happened?"

----------Flashback--------------

She walked through the forest, keeping close to the trees, her gun held at the ready before her. Lindsay was next to her, her gun also held out as they slowly worked their way toward the "enemy" position. Their mission was to rescue the crew of a downed helicopter, and Erika's team was in charge of securing the perimeter. Lindsay and she were approaching one of the few "enemy" gun positions while the rest of her team took care of the other positions. A few instructors and the observing brass were scattered around the field, but Erika blocked them out. This was a mission and there would not be any observers in the real world.

There was a crunch to their right. Erika motioned for Lindsay to check it out. The other young woman nodded and trotted in the direction of the noise. Erika watched her for a moment before turning back to her mission. She had taken only a few steps before the unmistakable sound of gunfire ripped through the air followed by a muffled yell.

"Linds," Erika whispered as her radio exploded into action.

"This is Squad Captain Sheppard," she replied into the box. "Gun fire in quadrant 6. I'm checking it out."

"Sheppard, this is Colonel Mills. We're sending a team to you. Assess the situation and report back."

"Yes Sir," Erika replied before sprinting after her friend. She dodged through the trees, picking up her pace when she heard another gun shot and a another shout, this time a much clearer, "Cadet, what the hell are you doing?"

The few seconds it took to catch up to Lindsay felt like an hour, but finally Erika spotted her friend through the forest. The other young woman was looking down the barrel at a graying man, one Erika recognized as the brass that was observing the field exercise.

"Lindsay, what the hell are you doing?" she yelled as she ran at her friend. The gun swiveled, pointed at Erika's chest. Green eyes flashed gold. The squad captain did not slow as she rammed into her friend, pushing the gun down just as the weapon went off. For a second, there was no sound. Then the two cadets hit the ground with a thud. The impact jarred Erika's leg, sending waves of pain up her thigh and through her body. She glanced down at her leg. There was a lot of blood gushing from the top of thigh close to her knee, and her calf and foot were at a weird angle. Disconnected for a moment, she vaguely wondered why it did not hurt more.

Someone yanked on her arm, pulling her out of her musing and into the pain. She screamed, her knee on fire, the bullet wound throbbing. She looked up at the man, a Colonel based on the birds that decorated his shoulders, and tried to say something, but only a second scream escaped her lips as he dropped her back to the ground.

He pulled a cell out of a pocket as his gaze shifted from Erika to Lindsay, her P90, now securely in his hands, never leaving the latter. "This is Colonel O'Neill, get me General Hammond." A pause. "Sir, we have a problem here. Send a containment team to the Air Force Academy." Another pause as General Hammond presumably responded. "Yes, Sir, that's correct. Thank you Sir." The phone snapped shut and he looked back at Erika.

"What's your name?"

"Cadet Erika Sheppard, Sir," Erika managed between gritted teeth. He leaned down and tied a tunicate around her leg. She bit her lip to keep from screaming again even as she noticed that his shirt by his shoulder was soaked in dark red blood.

"You know her?" he asked as he motioned towards Lindsay. Erika wondered when he had tied her up.

"Cadet Lindsay Mills, Sir," she responded as her radio exploded with her CO's voice.

"Squad captain Sheppard, report," he ordered. Erika reached for her radio, but the Colonel unsnapped the breast pocket and took it before she could do anything.

"This is Colonel Jack O'Neill," he responded smoothly, almost jokingly in the box. He watched Erika as he spoke. "There was a small accident here. Cadet Sheppard was injured. I need a med team right now." Erika watched in silence. She could barely feel her toes anymore, she felt like someone was repeatedly kicking her in the knee, and cutting into her thigh with a dull knife. She barely heard her CO sign off as she world faded from bright colors to black and back again.

"Hang on, Cadet," she heard as if from far away, "help's coming soon."

------------end--------------

Erika snapped out of the reminiscence and looked across the room at the director. He sat with his hands in his lap, leaning forward slightly, and Erika wondered how long she sat there, staring at nothing, ignoring his question. She shook her head slightly, tiring to clear the last of the thoughts away before she answered. While she thought about Lindsay on occasion, even talked with her a few times a year, she had not so vividly relapsed into that memory in many years.

"So you weren't shot?" the director asked. Erika looked up again, confused before she realized her took her head movement for an answer.

"Yes, I was shot," she clarified. She pointed to the spot on her leg, four inches from the knee where the bullet ripped through her flesh. "I was shot in the thigh, right here. When I landed, I dislocated my knee and broke the kneecap in two places. They set it at the Academy hospital, and I had to wear this huge brace to keep my leg immobile. I spent the last two months of my schooling on crutches and the next year in physical therapy."

"Sounds serious. Wait, that sounds stupid. Make a note to re-ask the question in post."

Erika just smiled. "It was, but they fixed me up and I'm fine now. I run two miles a day, play volleyball when I can, ski in the winter. It's a little painful now and then, and I always know when it's gonna rain." She chuckled, but quieted when no one joined in on the joke. "But otherwise I'm fine."

"But going off world is still dangerous?"

"Well," Erika started, thinking through her answer, "everything you do in dangerous to some extent. I mean, walking down the street is dangerous. You would slip and break something, or you could get mugged. My job has its risks, maybe more than some other jobs, but it's the job I signed up for."

"That's great. What are some of those risks?"

"Well, I've come across a few Jaffa patrols, and I was been kidnapped once. Oh, and this one time I ate at some festival the locals were having and was sick for days," she replied, purposely leaving out her experience with Anubis and as a Goa'uld host.

"What about last month?"

----------Flashback------------

Black simmering face looming over her. Smooth voice penetrating her mind.

---------------end---------------

"Last month?"

"It says here you were taken as a Goa'uld host? Am I saying that right?"

----------Flashback----------

"She knows. She will find the location of the Ancient City for us." The snake-like parasite dangling over her, its jaws opening and closing as it hissed at her. The searing pain as it leapt at her and burrowed into her neck.

----------------end-------------

"I really don't remember much about it," she lied as she looked at her boots.

---------Flashback------------

"Kill them." The order given, her unresponsive body turned and held the gun out at her companions. The muzzle pressed against Dr. Burns' forehead. His eyes were wide with terror.

-----------------end------------

Erika squeezed her eyes shut, but the images came faster now. Miller's face flashed in the darkness, his eyes full of hate. Then Haughenson. Her eyes shot open and she stood, pulling the microphone off her shirt as she did. "I'm sorry. I have to go," she said quickly. She did not wait for a reply before she left the office, only to run into Daniel the second she stepped out of the room

"You're right," she said quickly, "I didn't take enough time. I'm taking the next few days-"

"I need you to stay here," Daniel interrupted. He peered around the corner at the confused camera crew still in his office. His gaze found its way back to Erika, understanding reflecting in his blue orbs.

"There's been a discovery. They need me to help with the translation. General Hammond wanted me to take you with, but given your condition…Look, I'll talk to the general about the camera crew canceling the rest of your interview, but I need you to stay here." Bregman chose that moment to stick his head out of the office.

"Captain Sheppard, is something wrong? We need to finish the interview."

"Actually, I need Erika to finish some work," Daniel smoothly answered. "And I need my office back." The two waited the few minutes it took the crew to back out before entering the office once more. Bregman stopped at the door and turned back to Erika.

"We'll be back later for the rest of that interview," he promised. Erika just nodded. Once he was gone, she turned to Daniel.

"I can go with you. Anything to get me out of here."

"I don't think so," Daniel replied as he checked the batteries in his camera. "You're sleep deprived and walking on edge. They think it might be an ambush, and you're not thinking clearly."

"My thinking is just fine," Erika retorted. The second it left her mouth, she realized how it would sound to him. Maybe he was right.

"You blanked for twenty minutes this morning, and you just fled an interview. Jack backed me up on this. You're in no condition for a potential firefight." He placed the camera in his backpack before zipping it and shouldering it. "I need you to work on that stack of stuff on my desk that I'm not going to get to now. Then I'll probably need help with the translations when I get back." He placed a hand on Erika's shoulder. "Just get through the rest of today, and I'll talk to General Hammond about getting you the rest of the week off."

Erika nodded. "All right. Just…I'm not doing another interview."

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Erika stood behind and three people to the left of Daniel in her crisp dress blues in the Stargate room. She let the tears fall freely from honey-brown eyes as Major Carter read the list of names. She closed her eyes as her name was called, thinking of all the times Janet Fraiser patched her up or saved her life. She could not believe the doctor was gone. Somehow, it just did not seem fair.

Then again, when was anything in this world fair.

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Erika approached the bar and sat next to Daniel. Her boss barely acknowledged her presence as he ordered another beer and stared straight ahead at the full-length mirror behind the racks of alcohol. The bartender set the open beer in front of Daniel before glancing at Erika. At the shake of her head, he left the pair alone. Daniel sipped at his beer, still ignoring his assistant. Erika sat next to him, content with the silence.

"I kind of want to be alone right now," Daniel finally said. Erika grabbed his beer off the countertop and took a swig before replacing it in front of him.

"Yeah, I know," she replied without making a move to leave. There was silence again, both drinking out of the same bottle until it was empty. Daniel waved for two more beers. After the bartender left, Erika broke the silence. "I should have gone with you."

Daniel did not reply.

"I could have helped. I could have seen the Jaffa. I could have been the one hit."

"Don't think like that. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault except for the Jaffa that fired the weapon. Besides, if it were you, I'd still be sitting here drinking. Only I'd be sitting here drinking alone," Daniel offered without looking at her.

"I know," Erika replied, taking a sip of her beer. "I still hate you for not taking me with you." Daniel took a long gulp of his beer.

"I hate myself a little right now, too."

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A/N: Okay, I don't usually put my author's notes at the bottom, but I wanted you guys to read it before I commented on it. First thing, thanks for reading and reviewing the last chapter. I'm glad there're still some people interested in this story. :)

Second thing, about this chapter. 1) I've never been to the Air Force Academy, so I have no idea if they do any actual combat drills, so sorry if I got that wrong. Also, I've never been shot, but I'm sure it hurts like hell. 2) Sorry if the flashback scenes were weird. I couldn't think of a better way of getting those across and I kind of wanted to put a little back round into Erika and felt this was a good chapter to do it in. 3) I was too tired and lazy to properly edit and revise this, so I'm posting it with mistakes and will hopefully be able to fix them in the next few days. Feel free to point anything out to me. 4) So Fanfiction stopped recognizing the italics about halfway through the story, so sorry about the flashback headers. :(

I think that's it for now. Let me know what you think by clicking that little review button just down and to the left of this note. Oh, and the next chapter might take a little while as I have exams around the corner and am then moving. I'll try to have it up in a timely manner, but please forgive me if it takes a month or so. ;)


	10. Chapter 10

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?**

**Chapter 10**

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing the last chapter.

I wasn't going to write any Thanksgiving story because, well, not every one celebrates and they usually end up being really corny. But I'm waiting to get the SG-1 collector's edition for X-mas before I write the next episode-based chapter, and I didn't want you guys to wait that long for the next chapter. ;)

So I hope you guys like this chapter. For those that celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you have a great one with family and friends. For those that don't…um…have a great weekend. :) (I apologize in advance for the sappy ending).

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Erika's boots crunched slowly up the snow-covered steps. She stopped, standing in the archway, her hand clasped tightly around the handle of a plastic bag. She pulled down at the hem of her sweeter as it crept up the waist of her jeans and exposed her bare stomach, for the nth time questioning her wardrobe choice. She had only changed shirts four times before leaving her apartment, and changed her pants two times before settling on the washed out blue jeans. They were the only pair of jeans she owned that did not have a hole somewhere in the fabric.

She peeked through one of the large windows that flanked the mud colored door. The yellow lights were warm, inviting, and she caught a glimpse of Major Carter pouring herself something to drink as she chatted with someone out of Erika's line of sight. With a sighed, she ran a hand through her still damp hair, and rang the doorbell.

A yell, a crash, and a curse sounded from somewhere on the inside. Colonel O'Neill appeared by the window, smiled and opened the door. Erika released a breath she was unaware she was holding, glad she choose the jeans over the black dress slacks when she noticed that he, too was wearing jeans.

"Sheppard," O'Neill said excitedly, a wry grin plastered on his face. "Come in, come in. Take off your jacket," he said as he ushered her inside.

"Sir," Erika replied, distracted as she stepped over the threshold. She had never been to the Colonel's house before, and she let her eyes roam over the hallway and the adjacent living and dining rooms as he led her into the living room. The beige walls were sparsely decorated with framed pictures of Mars, and space, and fast planes. The furniture was plain, but tasteful, and the panel of windows that lined the back walled presented a pristine, glittering snow-covered forest.

"Captain Sheppard," Major Carter said with a smile as Erika stepped down into the room. Erika smiled at the other woman and nodded to the large Jaffa standing next to her.

"Erika Sheppard," Teal'c greeted her with a returning nod.

"You can put your jacket over there. Want something to drink?" O'Neill asked as he stepped down. "What's in the bag?"

"Oh, Daniel asked me to bring some wine, Sir," she replied as she handed him the bag and slowly stripped off her light jacket. O'Neill took the bag, glanced into it, and placed it aside with a small shrug.

"Great. Drink?"

"A beer would be great, Sir," she replied, her eyes barely straying from the winter wonderland through the windows.

"Erika," a familiar voice called. Erika felt the corners of her lips turn up as she turned.

"Daniel," Erika replied as the archeologist stepped out of the kitchen with a steaming plate of something Erika could not see in his hands. He set it on the table that was already covered with plates and dishes and a huge turkey that made Erika's mouth water slightly. An open beer appeared in her hands.

"You're roommate didn't come with you?" Daniel asked as he joined them in the living room. He plucked Erika's bottle out of her hands, despite her complain of "hey," and took a gulp before replacing it in her open fist.

"No. She went to her aunt's house or something like that. Apparently it was a big family thing. And if you want some, get your own damn beer." She accented her words with a casually punch to his shoulder. He rubbed at, a dejected look on his face.

"It didn't hurt, you big baby," Erika mumbled into the rim of the bottle.

"Alright, kids, we're all here, so let's eat," O'Neill said with a clap of his hands, stopping Daniel's comment before it even started. Teal'c nodded. Carter just smiled. Erika let SG-1 walk ahead of her up the few steps into the dining room and took the open seat next to Carter, across from Teal'c and Daniel.

O'Neill looked around the table with a wide smile. "Dig in," he announced as he picked up a bowl almost overflowing with mashed potatoes.

"All right," Carter replied, grabbing dish of candied yams. Daniel held up his hands.

"Wait. I think we should all go around the table and say what we're thankful for before we start. Jack," he interrupted. Erika sighed and put down her roll as O'Neill gripped the side of the bowl.

"Fine. Carter."

Carter spooned some of the yams onto her plate. "Sheppard." Erika dropped her head for an instant with a heavy sigh. It sucked being the lowest guy on the totem pole. When she lifted her head again, she glanced around the table. Carter. O'Neill. Teal'c. Finally, her eyes settled on Daniel and she smiled.

"I'm thankful for my friends," she stated truthfully.

"As am I," Teal'c said after a moment of pondering.

"Sounds good to me," Carter added.

"Great, friends. Let's eat," O'Neill commanded, his gaze never leaving Daniel as he passed the bowl of mashed potatoes to Erika. Erika doubted Daniel even registered O'Neill's glare because he was glaring at his assistant as if she just dropped and broke some priceless artifact.

"What?" Erika asked as she spooned a heaping amount of potatoes on to her plate next to the roll. She accepted the next platter from O'Neill without breaking eye contact and spooned the contents, creamed corn she guessed from the color, on to her plate.

"Nothing," he sighed as the bowl of mashed potatoes finally came around to him. "Friends it is."

Erika just grinned behind a bite of turkey as the conversation continued around her. She listened to the smooth flow of chatter, content to eat and listen in and sit with the people she had come to know as friends.

"What do you think, Sheppard?" Carter asked, her fork poised halfway to her mouth.

"I'm not that familiar with the technology," Erika replied honestly, truly glad, and thankful, for her friends.


	11. Chapter 11

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?** **Chapter 11**

**A/N:** So, I'm still waiting to write the next episode related chapter, but here's a little sometime until then. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever holiday you celebrate. Have a happy New Year, too. As always, please let me know what you think. :)

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The base was all but deserted for the holiday, everyone but the small skeleton crew having left to celebrate with family and friends. Erika smiled to herself as she stopped in front of the office door, the wash of white light spilling across the floor from the crack between the wall and the door a clear sign that it was still occupied. She put a hand against the cool metal and pushed slightly, the door giving easily against the pressure without the slightest sound. It opened just enough for the captain to poke her head into the office and her smile widened at the sight before her: papers strewn across the worktable, open books stacked one on top of the other, and a man with dark hair and his back to the door scribbling in chicken-scratch handwriting as he studied a tablet set in front of him. Erika leaned as shoulder against the doorframe, her shoulder bag resting against her opposite hip with her arms crossed over her chest. She flicked her wrist up without uncrossing her arms and watched as the second hand ticked, wondering how long it would take him to realize he wasn't alone.

"I already said 'no,' Jack. I don't want to go ice fishing," Daniel finally commented without looking up. A minute twenty, Erika noted absently as she pushed herself from the door-jam, a new record.

"Come on, Daniel, ice fishing is fun," she replied. For a moment, nothing happened, and then the voice must have registered because his hand paused in its writing and his head turned away from the tablet.

"I thought it was Jack," he said in way of apology. Erika rolled her eyes before she took a few steps into the room, dropping her bag on to the free chair as she did. She hovered over Daniel's shoulder, her eyes locked on the tablet.

"Hence the 'I already said no, Jack' comment," she replied smartly as she studied the carved words.

"Gaelic?" she asked as she titled her head to the side to get a better angle. Daniel reached out and gathered a few papers into a messy pile.

"Yes, actually," he replied, his tone betraying his surprise, as he shuffled the pile. "Shouldn't you be gone by now?"

Erika moved around the table, her hands clasped behind her back, until she was across from the linguist. She reached out and gathered the remaining papers in front of her into a much neater pile. She cast her eyes down on to the yellow paper before she answered.

"What? Oh, you mean with Anna to her family's place? Yeah, well, I canceled." He opened his mouth to protest, but Erika plowed over his response. "You see, there's this guy who doesn't like Christmas. Well, he's more than some guy. He's family, really, and he's the only one I've got. And he really doesn't like Christmas, so he spends the entire holiday locked up in his office despite the pleas of everyone. And I figured since he really doesn't like Christmas, and it's not my favorite holiday either, we could just forget all the celebrating bullshit. Besides, Anna's family is kind of creepy," she finished, finally looking up to meet blue eyes hidden behind round frames. When he didn't reply, she moved around the table again, back toward the chair with her bag and the door. She placed her pile on top of his before sighing.

"You could at least say thanks, you know. Her brother is kinda hot, and I'm pretty sure he likes me. I gave up a chance to get laid to spend this miserable holiday with you. Jeez, I hate you sometimes."

"Erika," a pause as Daniel stood. "That was way too much information. I don't need to know about your-"

"Bedroom antics," she supplied when he let the thought hang. He sighed as he grabbed his backpack from the floor besides the desk.

"Yes."

Erika grabbed her bag and the two walked out of the office, Daniel flipping the lights off as they left. They walked down the deserted corridor in a comfortable silence.

"Thanks," Daniel muttered as they neared the elevator. Erika shifted her eyes to watch him as they waited for the machine to drop to their level. She allowed the corners of her mouth to turn up in a smile as she opened her bag and reached for the package near the top. It was sloppily wrapped with loud red and blue and green paper with ice skating penguins frozen in merriment. A small silver bow was nestled on top, glistening faintly in the florescent light.

She tapped Daniel on the arm to gain his attention before thrusting the bright package into his hands. "Don't," she said as she did. "I've already heard the rant practically every day since 'Black Friday,' so just don't. Just open the stupid gift, say thanks, and just don't."

The elevator dinged, the doors sliding open. Erika rushed in, Daniel close on her heels, the package held loosely in his hands as he stared down at it. Erika stared at the elevator doors, refusing to look away. The only problem was, the doors of the elevator reflected their images back at her, so she was forced to watch as Daniel sighed and handed the present back to her.

"I'm not giving it back. Just hold it for a second." Erika complied, taking it back as Daniel dropped his backpack to the floor and unzipped it. He fished around for a second before pulling a present from the pocket. He rezipped the pocket, stood, and placed the rectangular package in her hand before taking his back.

"You bought me a Christmas gift?" Erika asked as she started down at the present. It was neatly wrapped in blue paper with little silver snowflakes. Scrawled across the top in semi-neat script was her name. She shifted on her feet and risked a glance back up at Daniel. His gaze rested on the present she gave him, his hands idly flipping it over and over again.

"After all the rants about how corporate America was ruining the holiday. After all the complaining of greed ruining the true spirit of Santa Claus. After all the ba-hum-bugging and snorting and glaring whenever anyone tried to play Christmas music, or put up some lights, or anything. After all the lectures on the mismatching of traditions and cultures and religions. After all of that, you still bought me a Christmas present?"

"Are you going to open it?" he asked instead of answering her question. Erika smiled. The elevator stopped and the two stepped out on to the top level of the SGC. Erika pulled a hat and some gloves out of her bag before braving the winter cold.

"Well?" Daniel asked as he did the same.

"Tell ya what: let's go to your place, have some dinner, and then we'll open our Christmas presents."

"Why my place?"

"Because you probably have more food than I do. And you have a fireplace."

"Point," the other conceded as they walked into the cold afternoon air. Erika took a deep breath through her nose and let it out in a puff of white. She watched the mist as it faded into the air.

"Hey Daniel."

"Yeah," Daniel replied as they made their ways to their cars.

"Merry Christmas," Erika said softly. She pulled open the door of her truck, not really expecting an answer. She tossed her bag on the passenger seat before carefully tucking the present Daniel had given her next to it. She was about to hop in and start the engine when Daniel's voice stopped her.

"Yeah, you too, Erika. See you at the apartment." Erika jerked her head up just in time to see Daniel shut the door of his car. She smiled as he backed out of the parking spot and drove down the road.

"Yeah," she repeated before starting her own car and following.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hate I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?** **Chapter 12**

**A/N:** I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while. I have lots of excuses, none of them good, so I'm just going to beg your forgiveness and hope you like this next chapter. Happy belated New Year.

Also, I'm working on chapter 13. My goal is to finish it by the weekend and have it posted early next week. Here's hoping I can actually stick to that. ;)

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Erika clutched the beer bottle between her hands as she glared at her friend Anna seated on the bar stool next to her. On her other side, some drunk frat guy was pawing at her shoulder in an attempt to gain her attention. Erika continued to ignore him as she stared at her friend, who continued to ignore her in favor of flirting with her own drunk frat guy.

"Hey, can I buy you a drink?" the guy finally asked, practically yelling in her ear to be heard over the music. Erika twisted her head around and held up her bottle for him to see.

"Already have one," she replied with a fake smile and a shake of her head before turning back to Anna.

"Why am I here, again?" she said into the other woman's ear. Anna paused in her flirting to offer Erika an eye roll and a smirk.

"It's New Year's Eve. What else were you gonna do? Come on, that guy is kinda cute. Let him buy you a drink, dance a little, have some fun. Besides, you never come out with me anymore," the redhead replied. She turned back to her boy without another glance at Erika, missing the Captain's own eye roll and shake of the head.

"This is why," Erika muttered into her beer bottle before she took a swig, finishing it in one gulp. She turned to her left, hoping to get another free drink, but the guy was already gone. Erika shrugged. She did not really need another beer anyway.

She tapped Anna on the shoulder, half yelling into her ear as she did, "I'm gonna pee. Be right back." Anna nodded. Erika stepped off the bar stool and slowly made her way to the back of the bar, stepping on more than a few toes and elbowing more than a few people in the ribs as she did. She leaned against the wall with the other girls in line, making small talk about shoes and tops as she waited for one of the two stalls. Once finished, she washed her hands and shifted to pull a paper towel out of the dispenser above the trashcan. She was just throwing the soiled paper towel away when a pack of girls burst into the bathroom, leading their friend towards the trashcan.

The girl never made it.

Erika clenched her fists and closed her eyes to keep from gagging. One of the friends offered an "I'm sorry" as she held the puking girl's hair out of her face. Erika shuddered.

"Yeah," she groaned as a second friend handed her a few paper towels. Grimacing, Erika wiped them across her jeans in an attempt to clean some of the throw up off of them. She gagged again.

It was time to go.

She found Anna where she left her and tapped her shoulder again to get her attention. "I'm gonna go, Sweetie," she said as she gestured to the mess on her pants. Anna frowned.

"It's not even midnight, yet," her friend protested.

"I'm not staying with puke on my jeans. I'm going home and taking a shower and possibly burning these jeans."

Anna nodded sympathetically. "I'll call you next weekend and we'll go out," she promised. Erika nodded before threading her way out of the bar. She walked down the street, pulling her jacket closer around her torso against the cold.

She sat in her car for a moment, gripping the steering wheel, refusing to look at the cold, wet mess splattered across her legs.

"This is not how I wanted to start my year," she sighed before backing out. Ten minutes later, she pulled into one of the visitor spots in front of Daniel's apartment and turned off the engine. She took the stairs up to his door two at a time as she flipped through her keys. She didn't bother knocking before slipping the key into the lock and turning it. The door swung inward on well-oiled hinges to reveal Daniel's museum-like apartment.

Daniel looked over at her from his sofa, his eyes widening with surprise. They narrowed as he took in her appearance.

"Erika…are you drunk?"

"It's not mine," she snapped as she dropped her keys on the side table near the door. "I just want to take a shower, borrow some sweats, and then go home."

"You couldn't just go home and shower?" he asked as he placed his book on the coffee table and stood. He dropped his hands to his hips, stared at her. Moved his hands to cross over his chest.

"You're place was closer to the bar. Please, Daniel. This is so gross." Daniel sighed and waved a hand towards the bathroom. Erika almost squealed in her delight. She practically ran to the bathroom, unzipping her jeans as she did. She tossed them in the corner of the bathroom, determined to throw them in Daniel's fireplace when she was finished scrubbing the filth from her body.

When she turned off the water and pulled back the shower curtain, she found two piles on the bathroom counter. The first consisted of two neatly folded towels. The second was a pair of dark grey sweat pants and a black t-shirt. Erika shook her head, but a smile lingered on her lips, as she unfolded a towel and wrapped it around her head. She quickly dried herself off with the second towel and changed into the clean clothes. She grimaced at the soiled clothes still crumbled in the corner of the bathroom, but choice to ignore them for the time being.

The steam burst out of the room as she opened the door and made her way to the kitchen. She heard the TV in the other room as she opened the refrigerator door. It took a few minutes to find what she wanted. She pulled the two beers from the box, knowing they were left over from the last time she visited Daniel, and walked into the living room were the linguist had the "New York City ball drop" playing in the background as he read his book.

"Something interesting?" she asked as she set one of the beers on the table in front of him.

"Yes, actually," he replied without looking up. "It details the steps taken to build the Forbidden City."

"I love Ming Dynasty architecture," Erika commented lightly as she sipped at her beer and watched the count down to the New Year. She saw Daniel lift his head from the text and twisted to look him in the eye.

"How did you know I was talking about Ming Dynasty?" he asked. Erika rolled her eyes and sighed harshly.

"I studied in China for four months, Daniel. I do know something of its history. Jeez, that's why I got you the stupid book in the first place."

Daniel closed the book, using his finger to mark his page, and studied the front cover for a moment. "I was wondering why I had this book in my collection."

Erika punched him in the shoulder. "I hate you."

Daniel smirked before he grabbed a slip of paper from the table and placed it in the book before closing it. He grabbed his beer and took a sip as he settled on the couch next to his assistant. They watched in silence as the ball dropped down and the people in the street counted backwards to the New Year.

"Make any resolutions?" Daniel asked, breaking the silence. Erika nodded.

"To have one less near-death experience this year," she said without hesitation as she watched the people on the TV screamed excitedly. "You?"

"One less?"

"It's reasonable enough, I think. Don't avoid my question."

"To find the Lost City."

"Isn't that a bit daunting?"

Daniel shrugged as he sipped his beer. "No more than 'one less near-death experience'."

"Touché."

"Happy New Year, Erika."

"Yeah. Happy New Year, Daniel."

They sat in silence as they sipped their beers and watched the taped celebration from New York.

"Weren't you just going to take a shower and go home?"

"I hate you."


	13. Chapter 13

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?**

Chapter 13

**A/N:** Hey, I actually kept my promise. Bet you guys are shocked. So thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. It's always nice to know people still like this story. :) Here's chapter 13. We're in Season 8 now (yay) and this chapter actually follows the episode a little more closely than my previous chapters – mainly because I can actually watch the episode while writing. Some of the dialogue is taken directly from the episode _New Order: Part 1_. Which means that this chapter contains spoilers for that episode.

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Let me know by leaving me some love (Or a review. Whatever works for you. ;))

Also, I'm working on the next chapter and should have it up sometime next week. Emphasis on should.

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Erika stood in the briefing room in front of the window over looking the dormant Stargate, her hands stuffed deep into her pant pockets as her gaze traveled up and down the circle. She let her mind wander, trying to focus on one thought at a time. It was difficult with all that had happened in the last week and her mind jumped from point to point, making it difficult for her to grasp one thought at a time.

Colonel O'Neill was in stasis. Dr. Weir was in charge of the SGC. Anubis, an uncontrollable shudder raced down her spine at the though of the black oil-like face leaning over her, was hopefully dead. Although she could never be sure and knew she would always be haunted by the half Gou'ald, half Ascended being. Thoughts of Anubis made her mind leap to the time, however brief, that she was a host. Erika quickly squashed those thoughts aside.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, but Erika ignored them as she continued to stare at the 'Gate and think. The SGC was effectively being closed down for the three-month review now that several other governments knew of the program. She wondered if she would even have a job in three months. Was sure Daniel would fight for her, but…She sighed and pushed that thought aside as well. It did no good to dwell on "what ifs" and she had other things to worry about. Such as helping Daniel to find a way to get Colonel O'Neill out of the stasis chamber.

"Thought I'd find you up here."

"Speak of the devil," Erika muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. What can I do for you?" Erika turned from her view to face Daniel's profile. The archeologist continued to stare out of the window.

"Elizabeth says talks are stalled again," he said quietly. Erika nodded and turned back toward the Stargate.

"I heard," she replied. His words finally registered and she turned to him, eyebrows raised. "Elizabeth?"

"Yeah, we're on a first name basis now," Daniel replied as he stuffed his hands into his pockets in an odd mirror of Erika's own posture. "These people just don't get it. We were just attacked by an armada of space ships. Instead of coming together and figuring out how to protect this planet in case it happens again, they're haggling over rights. We should be down there figuring out a way to get Jack out of there instead of sitting here doing nothing." He paused as his rant died down. "You heard? Because I just found out and was coming to tell you."

"Yeah. I was up here when Dr. Weir got the call. She recognized me as your assistant and mentioned it on her way to speak to you."

"She 'mentioned it'?"

"Are you a parrot or something now. Yes, she mentioned it. Actually, the conversation went more like: "You work for Dr. Jackson, right? I have to tell him the talks stalled. Is he in his office?' I just nodded and she left to find you."

They stood in silence for a while, each staring out at the Stargate.

"I wouldn't worry too much about Colonel O'Neill. Teal'c and Major Carter will find the Asguard. They'll help just like last time."

"I hope you're right."

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Erika sat at the worktable, going over Daniel's notes on the artifact in front of her, trying to make any more sense out of the writings. She consulted one of the open books near her, pinched the bridge of her nose and was about ready to call it quits when the alarm rang for an unscheduled 'Gate activation. Erika glanced at the red light and shrugged when it went out. Those types of emergencies rarely had anything to do with her. She marked her page, closed the book and was straightening her notes, looking forward to a mid-morning snack, when the phone in the corner rang.

"Sheppard," she answered as she shuffled her notes into Daniel's notebook.

"I'm sending down a Gou'ald text. I need you to translate it right now and bring it up to the briefing room when you're done," Daniel quickly explained.

"I was just about to-" The line went dead before Erika could finish her excuse. She held the phone out in front of her and sighed. "Translate your Gou'ald message and bring it up to you," she finished as she dropped the phone back into the cradle a little harder than necessary.

Her computer beeped and Erika sat in the chair, swiveling toward the keyboard. She opened her intranet mailbox and printed out the message for Daniel. After a quick scan of the message, she grabbed her pen and wrote down the English translation, her stomach dropping with each word she wrote.

Ten minutes later, she was taking the stairs to the briefing room two at a time, stopping three steps down where Daniel waited for her.

"Daniel," she started.

"Yeah, I know," he replied as he gave her translation a cursory glance. "Start gathering everything you can on the System Lords, especially on Camulus. I have a feeling we're going to need it."

"She's not going to-"

"Oh, I think she will," he said as he looked up at Erika. "Thanks." With that, he took the last two stairs up to the briefing room and set the report in front of Dr. Weir. Erika hovered just long enough to hear Weir's question about the accuracy of the translation and let a small smile form on her lips when Daniel defended it. Realizing she was only wasting time when she had a lot of work to do and a short amount of time to do it in, she hurried back down the stairs and down the corridors to Daniel's office.

The phone was ringing when she got there.

"Sheppard," she answered, twirling the cord around her body as she moved the artifact she had been working on off of the table.

"I need that gray folder that's on the desk."

"I don't think 'errand bitch' is in my job description," Erika replied as she filed the remaining papers away. "Besides, you just asked me to gather info on the System Lords. Which is it, the folder or the info?"

"The folder and then the info. And yes it is. It's right next to 'coffee maker' and-"

"Alright, I'm bring up the damn folder," Erika replied as she snatched the top folder from his desk.

"And don't forget a pe-" Erika hung up before he could say anything else.

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"We're sending a message," Daniel declared as he stormed into his office. Erika looked up from her work and frowned.

"We're negotiating with them. Daniel-"

"I know, I know. But I don't see what other option we have. I need your help on this one. We need to gather everything we know about the current System Lords and then we'll need more in depth information on the delegates once we know who they are," he started as he went to one of the bookshelves. He thumbed over the titles before pulling a smaller volume out and added it to the pile Erika already stacked on the worktable.

"I'm all ready on it," the Captain replied as she pushed the chair back and rolled to her desk. She picked up her hand-written list and handed it to Daniel, who scanned it.

"There's only six names on this list."

"Yeah. We just defeated Anubis. These are the only ones we can confirm are left from the original High Council before Anubis took over. I'm working on some more names, but-"

"This is fine for now," Daniel replied. He walked out of the office, taking the list with him as he went. Erika sighed, but rolled her chair back to the worktable and opened the new book Daniel selected for her.

"Erika." Erika turned her head to the door. "Good job." She did not get a chance to reply before he was out the door again. She continued working, losing all sense of time as she compiled the list for Daniel and Dr. Weir. She jumped when Daniel came back into the office and dropped a piece of paper on to the page she was reading.

"They agreed to all the terms," he stated, sounding more than a little surprised. "We have the delegates. I need you to stop what you're doing and help me with this."

"Yeah, fine," Erika replied as she closed the book and rearranged her notes. "Who're our lucky guests?"

"Camulus," he started, "which we figured because he sent the message. Amaterasu-"

"Japanese Sun Goddess," Erika supplied. The raise of Daniel's eyebrow made her believe he was both already aware of her place in mythology and a little surprised that Erika knew that fact as well.

"Yes. And Lord Yu." He paused for three seconds as he eyeballed Erika.

She shrugged. "I've heard all the jokes. They're not funny."

"All right, then. Get started on these. And I'll need you to be in the negotiations once they start."

"Nope," Erika replied as she reached across the table, choosing one of the books that was scattered across the metal top. "Not happening."

"Erika-"

"I'm not sitting in a room with them, Daniel. I refuse to. I will get everything ready for you. I'll translate anything you'd like. You're lucky I'm willing to be in the same building as them. I'm not going to be in the same room." She turned to him, honey-brown meeting blue as she stared at him, begging him to understand. It had been months since her incident as a host, and while she knew none of the Gou'ald delegates had anything to do with her kidnapping and the subsequent death of her team, she was not sure if she could keep her cool in their company.

He regarded her from across the room, his arms folded over his chest. "Fair enough," he replied after a moment's hesitation. He selected a second volume from the mess and dropped into his chair behind a desk. His pen tapped against the metal as he looked over the documents. Erika continued to stare, a bit stunned that he did not argue with her. He looked up, did a double take at her still staring at him and shook his head.

"We need to get this done now, so, know you, stop standing around and do it," he commented, his voice leaving little doubt that he was, in fact, dead serious. Erika suppressed her grin with a fake cough. She flipped the book open to a marked page, flicked the cap of her off and began scribbling notes on to a blank page of her notebook.

They worked through lunch, but Erika barely noticed. It was not until later, after she had been through almost every bit of material they had on the three delegates, that she realized just how hungry she was. And just how much her eyes hurt. She rubbed them with the palms of her hands as she rolled away from the worktable. She dropped her pile next to Daniel's before she stood and stretched her arms above her head. She watched him for a moment as he fingers crawled over the keyboard in a modified "hunt-and-peck" method that, while effective, was still slower than Erika's method of typing.

"Want me to type those?" she asked as she sank back into her chair. Daniel barely turned from the computer.

"I do know how to type," was his clipped response.

"Could have fooled me," Erika murmured just loud enough for him to hear. All she received for her effort was a sidewise glare. Instead of further provoking him, she picked her notes back up and rolled to the second computer. He hit the print button almost two full seconds before she did even though he started typing a few minutes before she did. She smirked at him over her shoulder as he waited by the printer.

"I'm starved. Want me to bring you back something?" she asked as she headed for the open door. Daniel nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks," he replied as he took his seat again and looked over their typed notes. Erika nodded in return, not bothering to ask what he wanted from the mess. She turned left out of the door and saw Dr. Weir coming down the hall.

"Dr. Weir," she said as she passed the other woman. Weir stopped.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember-"

"Captain Sheppard, Ma'am," Erika supplied as she stopped and turned to face the brunette. "Daniel's assistant."

"Of course," Weir replied as she clasped her hands behind her back. "Is he-?" she nodded toward the office.

"Yes, Ma'am," Erika replied, easily falling back into her military protocol. Dr. Weir smiled and turned to head into the office. She paused for a moment and turned back to Erika.

"Thank you, Captain."

Erika returned her smile before she continued on her way to the mess. She picked out two sandwiches, two bags of chips, an apple for herself, and a couple of cookies. Daniel was still seated at his desk, typing at his computer when she returned to his office. She set their lunch on the worktable and pulled up the chair across from him. She turned to look over her shoulder at him.

"Lunch is here."

"Yeah. Just finishing this up," he replied without looking at her. Erika sighed and dug in, enjoying her sandwich more than she thought a single person could enjoy two slices of bread with some meat in between. She vaguely realized it was her first meal since breakfast at 0600 that morning.

She gulped down her food as she idly flipped through one of the many books still strewn across the worktable as Daniel continued to type. As she nibbled on the edges of a cookie, Erika happened to glance up at the wall clock.

"Are you supposed to meet Dr. Weir in the 'gate room when the Goa'uld arrive?" She saw Daniel glance at the clock in the corner of the computer monitor from the corner of her eye.

"Shit." His chair shot back and he bolted from the room. Erika sighed, stood, grabbed his sandwich and his watch, which he removed while typing, and casually walked to the door of the office, holding both out. Daniel doubled back a few seconds later, grabbed both items with a mumbled "Thanks" and took off down the hall again. Erika grinned at his retreating back. When she was sure he would not return, she took his seat in front of the computer and opened "Mine Swept". It was time she took a little break from all the research.

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Erika's finger glided down the page over the words and symbols. It stopped at one particular symbol and tapped up and down on the worn page as her eyes scanned over the artifact at a similar marking. She looked back and forth between the drawing on the paper and the one carved in stone, triple checking that they were the same symbol with the same meaning. She twisted her lips into an uncertain frown as she continued to study the two markings.

"She's either completely crazy or a genius," Daniel declared as he huffed into the office, plopped down in the desk chair in front of the computer and plugged a thumb drive into the USB port. He grabbed the first notepad he could find as he opened the file on the drive, Erika curiously watching from her position in front of the artifact.

"And for those of us that have no idea what the hell you're talking about?" she finally asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm, when it became clear that he wasn't going to extrapolate. He looked up from the computer screen.

"Oh. Elizabeth. She wants to take over Baal's territory," he added as if it explained everything.

"Okay, because that explained everything. I'm still not following you," Erika replied. She capped her pen and stared at his back.

"Baal. Goa'uld System Lord-"

"Yes, I got that part. What about the territory thing?"

"Oh, that." Erika rolled her eyes and gestured with her hands for him to get on with it. He took a deep breath as he scrolled through the file. "The System Lords know we have a big weapon that we used to take out Anubis' fleet. They want us to use that same weapon to destroy Baal before he takes over the Galaxy. And Elizabeth," he snorted, "had the brilliant idea to tell them that we'll do it, only if we can keep everything that Baal has. Actually, I'm not sure how brilliant it is." He started tapping his pen against the desk as he gaze traveled from the computer monitor to the wall behind it. "It could backfire horribly, and since we can't actually use the weapon…" His voice trailed off as he continued to stare at the wall.

Erika watched him, her lips pulled down in a tiny frown. She was about to get up and wave her hand in front of his face in order to snap him out of his trance when he shook his head and returned his gaze to the words on the screen.

It appeared that he was not going to say anything else. Satisfied with the information she had all ready gathered on the situation, Erika turned back to her project. She re-located the symbol she had been scrutinizing before Daniel's appearance when said SG-1 member thumped his pen loudly against his notebook.

"They think we're bluffing," he exclaimed.

"We are bluffing," Erika retorted without looking up from her book.

"Yes, but they have no way to prove it." His voice was drawn out, a little distance, and he offered no further insight into the message. The only sound in the room was the scribbling and occasional tapping of his pen and the tapping of Erika's boot against the floor as she worked on translating the artifact.

"Progress," Dr. Weir said as she strolled into the office, meeting Daniel at his computer not ten minutes later. Erika looked up, curious as to what else Daniel found, but reluctant to ask any more questions. Not because Daniel would be upset at the interruption, but more because she was not sure she wanted to hear his long-winded answers.

"Yeah," Daniel sighed in return. "It's basically a confirmation of what we suspected. They think we're bluffing but have no way of confirming their suspicions, so they're not sure what to do."

"They could still try to draw Baal here, let him figure it out for them," Dr. Weir reasoned.

"Yeah, that's dangerous for them because if we can't power the weapon-"

"Which we can't," Weir finished for Daniel, mirroring Erika's thoughts as she listened. Daniel nodded his head, conceding the point.

"Baal would end up with both Earth and the Ancient Outpost in his possession," he finished. Dr. Weir looked as if she wanted to say more, but their conversation was interrupted by the alarm.

"Unscheduled off world activation," a voice declared over the base PA system. Erika's eyes traveled to the red alarm lights as Dr. Weir stepped over to the phone in the corner. Both Daniel and Erika turned to watch as she answered the phone.

"This is Weir. What's happening?" A pause while she listened to the answer. She glanced at Daniel before saying, "Okay, we'll be right down." She hung up the phone as she turned.

"Our guests just got a response."

Daniel nodded, dropped his pen and followed Dr. Weir out of the door, leaving Erika alone once more. The young woman looked after Daniel before allowing her gaze to travel back to her research materials. She glanced back at the door. With only a slight hesitation, Erika stood and followed Daniel out of the office and down to the control room. She arrived just in time to watch as Daniel's hand slammed down on the "shut down" button before he raced out of the room.

"What's going on?" she asked as she moved to stand next to Walter. The Sergeant shrugged and merely gestured toward the computer. Erika glanced at the message and did a double take as she read over the worlds.

"Son-of-a-bitch," she whispered. She looked up at the three Goa'uld standing in the 'Gate room. "Those fucking, back-stabbing, sneaky bastards."


	14. Chapter 14

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?**

Chapter 14

**A/N:** So…um…sorry…

If anyone is still reading this story, please don't hate me because I haven't updated in…forever. I'm so sorry. RL just gets in the way some times. No promises on when the next installment will be up, but I am working on it.

Sorry again. This chapter is extra long, so hope you enjoy it.

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Erika watched the display in the 'Gate room, unsure of the actual conversations being played out. All she knew was that the Gou'ald had betrayed them and were sending a Mothership to Earth to test their weapon system in Antarctica. It was never a good idea to trust the Gou'ald, and the three in the room below proved to be no exception. She could not help the smile that crept over her lips when the Marines led them away.

Daniel and Dr. Weir came up the stairs a moment later. They paused at the base of the stairs leading to the briefing room and Dr. Weir's office. Erika fell in line behind Daniel as the two continued their conversation.

"I have to notify the President of the situation. The Prometheus must be ready."

"Do you think the Prometheus is going to stand a chance against a Gou'ald Mothership?" questioned Daniel. Dr. Weir frowned and shook her head slightly.

"We might have to wake up Colonel O'Neill." Before Daniel could interrupt, she added, "I don't see any other option, Daniel. I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Daniel replied to her back as Dr. Weir continued up the stairs.

"What now?" Erika asked as the two of them turned.

"I have no idea," Daniel replied. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and watched the computer screens. "Monitor the situation and hope we can think of something in time that doesn't involve killing Jack."

It was less than an hour later when the Stargate lit up. "Unscheduled activation," Sergeant Walter declared. Daniel stepped over and watched the "incoming message" message flash on one of the screens. The text downloaded and the 'Gate shut down.

Erika stepped behind Daniel and read over his shoulder.

"Well, at least that's good news," she said quietly. Daniel shifted so he could glance at her over his shoulder. "At least half of the message is good news. The ship was destroyed so we don't have to wake up the Colonel."

"True." He sighed. "I better go tell the Gou'ald that their little plan failed and that Ba'al is taking over the System Lords."

Erika nodded. She stood at the base of the stars long enough to hear Daniel's explanation. With nothing else to do in the control room, she turned to go down the stairs and back to the mountain of work that still needed to be done in their office.

"Captain Sheppard," Dr. Weir called. Erika paused halfway down the stairs and looked up. Dr. Weir leaned over the rail and motioned upwards. "Can you join us up here?" Erika nodded, confused as she mounted the steps back to the control room and up to the briefing room. Weir stood looking out the window at the Stargate.

"We have a problem," she said without looking away.

"The Gou'ald?"

"No, actually." She turned and looked at Erika, holding the other woman's gaze. "It's Daniel. He's gone. He just disappeared."

It took a moment for the information to sink in. When it did, Erika sunk into a chair, rested her elbow on the table, and cupped her forehead in her open palm. She bit her bottom lip and squeezed her eyes shut.

"When? How?" she finally asked, moving her hand just enough so she could see Dr. Weir as the other woman watched her.

"Just a few moments ago. He was beamed away."

"The Asgard," Erika immediately said. "It's the only possibility. There must be a ship in orbit."

"There is. I was just notified-" the phone in her office rang, interrupting her sentence. Dr. Weir looked back into her office. "Excuse me," she said as she turned, entering and pushing the door shut behind her. The door did not click, leaving it cracked as the base commander picked up the phone. Erika looked at the cracked door for a moment before she rose and set her hand against it. She hesitated another moment before pushing against it and following Dr. Weir into the office.

"Are you sure?" she was saying into the receiver. "Yes, I understand. Thank you." She stared at the receiver than placed it in its cradle with little force before turning to Erika.

"It appears that the Asgard have taken both Daniel and Colonel O'Neill and have left," she said.

"I'm sure it was important, Dr. Weir. Perhaps they needed the Ancient knowledge Colonel O'Neill possesses."

The other woman raised an eyebrow as she sat on the corner of her desk. "Perhaps. But they took my Gou'ald expert with them, which means that I am going to have to rely on someone else to help me with this problem here. Captain Sheppard."

"There are a few others on Daniel's team that have had just as much experience with the Gou'ald. I'm sure they would be happy to help. I'll go round up some names for you," Erika replied as she made to leave.

"I meant you, Captain." Erika almost tripped over her feet in mid-turn as she turned to gape at Weir. The base commander was still sitting on the edge of her desk, her arms crossed over the chest of her pinstriped blazer.

"Me?' Erika asked, feeling more than a little foolish once the question was out of her mouth.

"Yes you. I've had a chance to read your file, Captain, and I'm sure you're more than qualified to handle this. You've proven yourself to be very capable in a crisis situation. Plus, Daniel places a great deal of trust in you. Why shouldn't I?"

Erika nodded dumbly. It was not about her ability; it was about her willingness to work with the Gou'ald. It had been months since her experience, yet she was still haunted by it. But how did you say "no" to your boss? _I'm sorry Dr. Weir, I hate the Gou'ald because they made me kill three of my friends and almost had me kill Daniel._ Erika knew Dr. Weir had all the facts. She had just said she had read Erika's file. And with Daniel gone, again, she was technically in charge of the department. She could not let Daniel down.

She breathed in deeply and let it out slowly.

"Of course I'll help, Dr. Weir," she finally replied, her gaze catching and holding Dr. Weir's. The older woman nodded once and smiled.

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"Yue's advisor wants us to send them back through the Stargate. He thinks they could do more good out there then to us here," Dr. Weir announced as she stepped into Erika's office. Erika looked up from her book. She found her bookmark and closed the volume before answering.

"He's probably right. Yue's fleet, from the intel we've gathered, is vast. He could help tip the balance in favor of the System Lords and away from Ba'al. And even though they haven't seen the Ancient weapon, the fact that the Asgard came gives some credence to our story. They might think twice before sending another ship to attack Earth, and about attacking the other planets under the Protected Planets Treaty." Erika stood as she talked, taking the volume with her. She moved to one of the large bookshelves, replaced the book in its spot and ran her thumb along the spine of the other books on the shelf. Finding the volume she needed, she pulled it out and faced Dr. Weir again.

"We've had very little success in interrogating Gou'alds in the past," she continued as she moved back around to her chair. "The Tok'ra might be able to gain more information from their network of spies if we let them go than we could ever gain by keeping them captive."

"What about transferring them to the Tok'ra's care?" Dr. Weir stepped further into the office and took one of the few empty seats in the cluttered space. Erika bit her lip as she thought about it. She toyed with the book in her hands, flipping through the pages, turning it over in her hands, looking over the title on the spine. Finally, she set the book on her desk, cleared off the seat opposite of Weir and sat.

"Moving Gou'ald is always risky," she declared uncertainly. "They're tricky and manipulative, and while Yue might be losing his mind, the others are not. And there's no guarantee that the Tok'ra can get anything of importance from them."

"What's your opinion, though? What do you think we should do?" Weir asked, leaning forward.

"What I think, Ma'am?"

"Elizabeth, please. What would Daniel say?"

Erika could not help the smirk that slid across her lips. "He'd say let them go. They can do more good to us out there than they can locked up here. If they can tip the balance away from Ba'al…" she did not finish the thought, but let it hang in the air, hoping Dr. Weir understood what she meant.

There was silence in the room for a minute as Dr. Weir – Elizabeth – digested what Erika suggested. She nodded without replying and stood. "Thank you, Captain Sheppard, that's what I was thinking, too. I'll go make the recommendations to the President."

She stopped at the threshold and turned back. "Could you come to the control room with me, Captain? I would like your opinion on a few other situations that have been brought to my attention."

Erika half stood in her chair, a little confused by the turn of events. She had helped in a few situations when Daniel was gone before, but she never advised the base commander, ever. She could offer a suggestion, but more likely than not, SG-1 was there with all the ideas.

Of course, SG-1 was gone at the moment, taking all their experience and ideas with them.

Damn Daniel for getting beamed away like that. Some days she really hated him. She chuckled to herself at the thought.

"Captain?" Weir repeated.

"Yes, Ma'am," Erika quickly replied, her training compelling the response from her before her brain had time to catch up. A raised eyebrow was the only response from the base commander as she stood in the doorway, waiting for an answer to her question.

"Of course, Ma'am." Weir frowned. "Dr. Weir…I mean, Elizabeth," Erika stammered out, feeling a little awkward. But she stood, gathered a few files, flipped through them and set them down again. Thinking of her friend and boss, she stuck her hands in the pockets of her pants and went to Dr. Weir.

"I'll help anyway I can."

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Erika stood outside the cell, her back to the door, waiting for Dr. Weir to finish her conversation with Camulus. She could not hear what was being said, but she knew it must have been serious.

The call can down to her office only twenty ago. Elizabeth expressed her wishes, never an order, that Erika join in her in her talks with the Gou'ald. When she reached the commander's office, the other woman was all ready on her way out the door.

"Camulus wants to talk," she informed the captain as the two made their way down the circular stairwell to the control room. Erika frowned.

"About what?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "I was hoping you could tell me. You have more insight in to the Gou'ald than I do. What do you think he could want?"

It was Erika's turn to shrug as she walked with the other woman through the control room and into the hallway. She mulled the question over in her mind for a bit, trying to understand the motive behind the Gou'ald, but just because she had been one did not always mean that she understood them. She did know one thing though: Gou'ald rarely did any thing unless it benefited them.

"Did any of the other Gou'ald wish to speak with you? Or just Camulus?"

"Just Camulus, at the moment any way. Do you think he wants to make a deal?"

"I'm not sure, but I do know Gou'ald can't be trusted. I'd be weary of anything he says, Elizabeth. They've been our captives for only a couple of days, and I'm pretty sure Yue and Amaterasu think that we're going to release them. I can't even imagine what Camulus is looking for from you."

Weir nodded, and the two women continued to Camulus' room in silence. Once there, Elizabeth motioned for the guards to stand by and placed her hand on the doorknob. She glanced back at Erika, but the captain shook her head. She still could not face the Gou'ald, even if she could help Elizabeth.

So she stayed outside, and now she waited on Elizabeth to finish her conversation. She did not have to wait long. It was only minutes before the door opened again and Elizabeth stepped out, closing the door softly behind her. She motioned to the airman who was guarding the door before turning to Erika.

"He wants asylum," she announced, subdued, perhaps from the shock.

"Asylum?' Erika repeated. "Okay, not exactly what I was expecting."

"You think it's a trick?"

Erika was not sure if it was a question or a statement, so she did not say anything as they made their way back through the corridors and up to Elizabeth's office. Elizabeth sat in the black leather chair behind her large desk. Erika sank into one of the blue cloth ones opposite of the base commander.

"So, you think it might be a trick?" Elizabeth asked again, her hands templed on her desk. Erika grimaced and furrowed her brow as she thought. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in the chair.

"I don't think so. He has nothing to gain and everything to lose by staying here. The other Gou'ald will think him a traitor if he stays. But they will destroy him if he goes back," Erika started. She stopped and bit her lip, her honey-brown eyes shifting back and forth with her thoughts. "No, it's not a trick," she repeated, more sure of her answer this time.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrow, but she dropped her hands into her lap and nodded. "You're sure?"

"As sure as you can get when dealing with the Gou'ald. And if we grant him asylum, he might provide us with valuable intelligence about Ba'al and the other System Lords."

"Thank you, Captain." Erika nodded and stood. "I'll notify the President of the situation and make your recommendation," Elizabeth continued.

Erika almost fell back into the chair at the statement. Her recommendation. Her recommendation was going from the base commander to the President. She was not sure if that had ever happened to her before, or if it had, she certainly had never known about it.

"Thank you, Dr-" a glance stopped her, "Elizabeth."

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"So you're going to the Antarctic base?" Erika asked as she poked her head into Elizabeth's almost bare office. There were boxes of her knick-knacks and artifacts by the door, ready to be taken out and transferred to her new office.

Elizabeth nodded as she took one of the last pictures off of the wall and placed it in the last half full box that rested on her desk. "I leave in two days for New Zealand, then to McMurdo after that. I'm actually looking forward to it. A whole new culture to study: just image what we could learn about the Ancients from what we find there. And that's actually while I called your in here, Captain. Your assistance was invaluable while the Gou'ald were here, especially since Daniel was…occupied else where."

"Thank you," Erika replied slowly, unsure of what direction the conversation was steering.

"I've talked to General O'Neill. If you agree to it, he can have you transferred to the Antarctic team. I'm in need of a good anthropologist who can help me decipher Ancient and study the base. I'm told you're the best, next to Daniel, and General O'Neill refused to let me have Daniel," Elizabeth concluded with a smile.

"I'm not sure I understand," Erika replied as the information sank in. "You want me to be your assistant?"

"No. I want you to be the head of my linguists and research department," came the unexpected answer. Erika felt dizzy. She sank into one of the chairs, rested her forehead in the palm of her hands and closed her eyes. Head of her own department. With that kind of experience, she could easily get her PhD when she left the Air Force and find a great job at a University, or at a museum. It could open up so many doors for her in the future. It would be stupid of her to say no. However, "Thank you, Elizabeth, that's a wonderful offer, but I can't take it."

Elizabeth's smile dimmed, but did not fade. "He said I wouldn't be able to take you away."

"Who said that? Daniel?"

"No," Elizabeth replied. "Daniel said you would be stupid not to take it. But I think he only said that because he wanted it.

"General O'Neill said you wouldn't. He said not that you couldn't, because you're more than capable, but that you wouldn't." She cocked her head to the side as she studied Erika. "And I think I understand why. It was a pleasure working with you, Captain-"

"Erika," the younger woman interrupted. "Please, call me Erika."

"Erika," Elizabeth finished as she stuck her hand out. "I hope we get to work together again some day."

"So do I, Elizabeth," Erika replied as she shook the other woman's hand. "Good luck in Antarctic."

"If you ever change your mind," Elizabeth hinted as Erika turned to leave, "just let me know. I'll give you that department in a heart beat."

"Thanks," Erika answered, but both women knew that the captain would not change her mind.

Erika left the office and turned into the hall. She almost jumped out of her skin when some one behind her said, "How could you have turned her down?"

"Christ, Daniel," she exclaimed. "I should get you a bell. You scared the crap out of me."

"Seriously," Daniel continued as he came up next to Erika, "how could you turn her down? She just offered you your own department at an Ancient outpost."

"'Thank you for not leaving me, Erika. How would I run this department without you?' 'No problem, Daniel, you know I love my job here.'" Erika mocked the archeologist as they continued toward the 'Gate room where Dr. Weir would officially hand over command of the base to General O'Neill.

"Erika," Daniel started again. Erika stopped in her tracks and turned to face Daniel.

"I'm afraid of penguins," she answered.

"What?"

"Terrified of them. I can't be on the same continent as penguins," she repeated. She turned away from him and continued down the hall. Three beats later, Daniel caught up with her, his face still radiating confusion.

"You're…kidding, right?"

"Yes."

"Because…"

"I was kidding."

"Penguin, huh?"

"Daniel…I hate you."

Silence.

"Thanks for not leaving. How could I ever run this department without you?" Daniel finally said, his tone carrying more than a hint of sarcasm.

"Daniel…I still hate you."

12/09/08


	15. Chapter 15

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?** **Chapter 15**

A/N: Okay, so this chapter did not turn out how I thought it would, for better or for worst. And it ended up being super long (15 pages in Word in Times pt 12 font). So I broke it up into two chapters. So bonus for you guys, cause two chapters at once! I honestly can't remember the last time I did that. Hope you guys enjoy these chapters. Let me know what you think by hitting that little review button at the bottom of the page.

Thanks to every one who commented on the last chapter. And thanks to every one who added this story to their Fav/Alert lists.

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The captain tucked her brown hair, wrapped in an orderly bun, back under the edge of her hat as the 'Gate shut down. She sighed, took a deep breath, and turned back around to face the four members of SG-15, one of the exploratory teams that Erika occasionally worked with. The team leader, a captain by the name of Michaels, and her did not get along, mainly because he was pig-headed and believed that women should not serve in the military, or be doctors, or lawyers, or linguists, or scientists, or anything that did not involve cooking and cleaning and making babies. But she was friends with the rest of the team, and despite Captain Asshole, she enjoyed going off world with them.

"The SGC is under lockdown," Erika calmly explained to them. "We're to report to the Alpha site-"

"Then dial the 'Gate, Sergeant," Michaels interrupted, his Adam's apple moving up and down as he practically yelled the order.

"Delay that, Sergeant," Erika quickly countered. Michaels turned to her and glared, his eyes, more green than brown, digging holes into Erika's own honey-brown eyes as they locked gazes. The sergeant, a wiry man by the name of Newcastle with curly red hair and wire-framed glasses, looked between the two captains, torn by who's order to obey.

"Dial, Sergeant," Michaels said again.

"Sergeant," Erika repeated, her tone leaving little room for argument as her eyes never left Captain Michaels. "We still have another 24 hours for this mission, and we are not leaving this planet until we finish."

"The SGC is under a lockdown and we have direct orders from General O'Neill to return to the Alpha site," Michaels replied, his voice carrying just as much command as Erika's had a few seconds ago. He stepped in her space. He was not much taller than Erika, but he was tall enough that she had to look up at him to keep their eyes locked. "I was put in command of this unit, Captain Sheppard," he snarled out her name, "not you."

"True," Erika responded, her anger and impatience with the man rising, "but I was put in charge of this mission by General O'Neill, not you, Captain Michaels. And I have order's, directly from General O'Neill's lips, to complete this mission. And if I remember correctly, I was the officer put in charge while we are planet side.

"We'll head back to the village, get some dinner and some sleep, and start at the outpost again tomorrow morning. After we've finished there, we'll report to the Alpha site."

Michaels opened his mouth to reply, but Erika held out her hand, stopping him before he could start. "I came here for a very specific reason and I'm not leaving until I get the information I need. You do what you like, and then explain it to the general later. Sergeant, you're with me." She turned and started back down the trail that led to the village, her boots kicking up small clouds of dust as she did. The other two members of SG-15 exchanged quick glances and followed Erika.

"There's still a bit of daylight left, Captain, if you wanted to go back to the outpost now," Dr. Fujimako suggested from Erika's right. Erika looked at the other woman. She was small with jet-black hair and dark eyes. A botanist by profession, and a great disappointment to her Japanese parents or so she said, Akiko was the one who first found the Ancient building and reported it back to the SGC. Apparently, there was some very rare flower that she was studying that grew near the outer walls of the building. Erika did not fully understand the whole thing, or the woman's fascination with plants, but they formed a quick friendship, despite the fact that Akiko never called Erika by her first name.

"It'll be too late by the time we reach the ruins to get back to the village before sunset. The locals are adamant that we return to the village before sunset, and don't stray from the protection of the stones until sunrise. Erika, I think we should respect their wishes and return to the village," Dr. Keith Johnson offered. Erika moved her head slightly to look at the man as he walked in front of her. Keith was a cultural anthropologist from her own department. The young black man was tall, a basketball player in college, with a passion for Native American cultures. He compared the small village they were currently staying in to a Hohokam village of central Arizona. Erika could understand why: the desert planet matched the American Southwestern climate perfectly.

"Are they superstitious about the dark?" Erika asked as they continued to walk up the dirt path lined with small white pebbles.

"More about the things that lives in the dark," Keith corrected. "They claim there's a monster that only comes out at night.

"Sounds like a bunch of superstitious savages to me," Michaels voiced. Erika looked back over her shoulder and shot the other captain a glare as he solemnly followed behind the three, the sergeant at his side. He ignored her, passing a hand over his cropped sandy blond hair instead.

"Perhaps there is a large nocturnal predator in the area, or there was at some point and the fear stems from that," Erika replied to Keith instead of yelling what she really wanted to say to Michaels. That ignorant, moronic, pig-headed, ass did not deserve any more of her time than she was required to give to him. When she returned to the SGC, she would make a formal request so she never had to work with him again.

"Like a tiger or something, Sir," Sergeant Newcastle asked from his place just behind and to the left of Michaels.

"I'm not a biologist, Sergeant, but I'd imagine it was something like it. It would probably be better to head straight for the village, just in case. We'll get an early start on the outpost tomorrow."

"Great," she heard Michaels mumble from behind, "more boring mumbo-jumbo. At least I'll get to clean my gun."

Erika continued to ignore him.

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She was up and dressed before the sun. While waiting for sunrise, she sat in the center of small room given to her and Akiko with one leg crossed over the other and meditated as Daniel had taught her. She breathed in deep and slowly let it out through her nose. Twice. Thrice. She let her mind fill with white, focused on nothing but her breathing, her heart rate, the sound of some cricket type animal. Slowly, she let the sounds fade away until there was nothing but the white. Slowly the white faded until there was nothing. When her eyes finally fluttered open, she felt more at ease and rested than after a full night's sleep in the strange hut on the strange cot.

Time ceased to exist while she meditated, so she was surprised to see several slivers of sunlight spill in from the cracks in between the planks of cactus skeleton that made up the door. She unfolded her legs and stretched them out in front of her. To work out the kinks and stiffness, she dropped her chest to her thighs and tapped the tips of her toes with the tips of her fingers. She slowly counted to thirty, grimacing during last ten seconds of the count. Done, she sat up, twisted left, than right to crack her back, than stood.

Akiko was gone from her cot opposite the one Erika slept in. Worried that she was holding up the others, Erika slipped on her boots, tied them up, and slung her ratty, well used backpack over her left shoulder, and the strap of her M16 over her other. She flicked her sunglasses down over her eyes and pushed open the door.

The adobe walls of the hut kept the inside relatively cool, and Erika was not prepared for the blast of heat as the door swung out. The day was dry and it was all ready hot, even though the sun had barely crested the eastern mountains. The locals insisted that it was the middle of their winter, but it felt more like the middle of a Colorado summer to Erika. She wondered how anything could live there in the summer if their winters were so warm as she walked toward Keith breakfasting with a few of the men. He handed her a small cactus fruit and a piece of flat bread made from the bean of one of the few trees that could stand the arid climate. Erika accepted both graciously and bit into the fruit with gusto.

"Akiko took off toward the outpost all ready. Something about wanting to studying the flowers during sunrise." He shrugged. "I don't really understand it."

"Me neither," she replied as she nibbled on the flat bread. "I'm going out to the outpost. You want to come?"

Keith looked back at the natives. "I'm going to stay here. They plan on holding a ball game later today. No one from modern times has ever seen an ancient ball game before." He sounded almost giddy, if a grown man could sound giddy.

"All right. Where's Sergeant Newcastle and Michaels?"

"Michaels was still asleep when I left, and I think Newcastle went with Akiko. I think he has a bit of a crush."

Erika chuckled. "I'll radio if I need anything."

The Ancient outpost was small, just one room with a chair, an empty power cell, and a new naquida generator. Erika dropped her gear next to the naquida generator and just looked at the chair for a moment, still unable to believe that she could use it.

They brought the naquida generator in the day before. Newcastle set it up amidst the bored chatter of Keith and Akiko, the snipping comments of an impatient Michaels, and the silent excitement of Erika. Using the specs provided by Colonel Carter, it took Newcastle ten minutes or so to connect the generator to the power source of the chair. He sat in the chair "just to check that it would work," but nothing happened. Erika could see the momentary panic in his dark green eyes before he hide it with frustration. She swore she heard him growl before he went back to the generator and tinkered with the connection again. Michaels, in a fit of irritation and boredom, clinched his fists, snorted and walked out of the tiny, cramped room. After a few more minutes, Akiko and Keith, both with sympathetic glances towards the brown haired captain, followed Michaels out of the outpost.

Newcastle checked the connection one more time before turning to Erika and shrugging. "Sorry, Captain, I just don't know why it won't work. I followed Colonel Carter's instructions to the letter. It should work."

But Erika could only sigh. It was not the sergeant's fault that the stupid chair would not work. Frustrated, and feeling a little defeated, Erika sat in the only place available for her to sit: the Ancient chair.

The chair leaned back. The room lit up. Her entire body tingled.

Erika shivered at the memory. She ran a hesitant hand over the arm of the deep blue chair, feeling the texture beneath her fingertips. She was giddy with excitement as she moved around the back of the chair, her fingers trailing over it as she walked around until she was facing the seat.

Slowly, she sat.

The chair leaned back.

The space above her lit up in brilliant ice blue as information was projected on the ceiling. Erika allowed herself a smile before she began her task: searching for any clues as to the location of the city of Atlantis.

She was not sure how much time had passed when her radio suddenly flared to life.

"Sheppard, this is Michaels. Come in."

Erika sighed, but she stood and hit the talk button on her radio.

"This is Sheppard," she responded.

"Is Sergeant Newcastle with you?"

Erika frowned. "Negative, Michaels. I thought he was with Akiko."

There was a long pause before Michaels responded again. "That's a negative, Sheppard. Dr. Fujimako returned to the village some time ago and Sergeant Newcastle is not with her. We've searched and he's not in the village."

Erika's frown deepened. She glanced back at the chair, but her decision was made. Without hesitation, she grabbed her gear off of the floor and left the small chamber. She had gotten most of her answers anyway. And the room would not disappear if she needed to come back.

"I'm on my way," she announced into the radio as she headed across the desert, her long shadow cast from the late afternoon sun preceding her to the village.

She was still twenty minutes out when she noticed a figure moving rapidly toward her. She slowed her walk and swung her gun around so that it was easier to grab if the figure proved to be hostile. While she believed it only to be a native, it never hurt to error on the side of caution. As the figure drew closer, Erika felt herself relax. She recognized the ground-eating stride of Captain Michaels. Still, she kept her weapon close to her side, ready to swing it around and fire if it was not Michaels.

"They found Newcastle," he announced as he stopped in front of her. Erika relaxed her grip on her weapon. "They found him, left for dead in the middle of the fucking desert. I'm sending you and Doctors Fujimako and Johnson to the Alpha site with him. So move out on the double, Sheppard. That's an order." He continued, brushing past Erika without waiting for her response. Erika stood for a moment rooted to the path, both confused and infuriated at his brash statement. She clenched her hands into fists. With a few quick breaths, she unreleased them without punching Michaels across the jaw.

"Where the hell are you going?' she demanded as she turned to watch his retreating back. She noticed that every muscle along his back tightened as he abruptly stopped. He was quick to turn and move the few steps back to stand in front of her.

"I ordered you back to the village, Sheppard," he barked. Erika did not back down. She took a step forward so that the two captains were almost nose-to-nose.

"You don't get to order me to do anything, Michaels," she shot back. "And what in the hell happened to Newcastle?"

She could actually see the vein in his forehead throbbing as his face reddened in an attempt to calm down. They locked gazes, both green and brown harsh and unrelenting. The tension between them, thick to begin with, was oppressive. Without meaning to, Erika took a small step back. It seemed to break the spell of silence that hung over them. In the distance, one of the small bird-like creatures chirped its evening call as the sun continued to sink to the west.

"They were fucking ripped to pieces, Sheppard. There were six of them and Newcastle. The only other survivor had his fucking arm torn off. And what was left," he shuddered as the memory ran through him, "they were eaten. There were teeth marks on the bones. Whatever did this, it has that village terrified."

There was silence again for a moment as Erika digested the grim tale.

"And where are you going?" Erika asked, her voice softer after hearing the story. She was fuming inside that something like that had been done.

"To find the son-of-a-bitch."

Erika could not stop the chuckle that escaped her lips. "And how are you going to do that? Do you know who did it? Do you even know where they found him?" Her questions were met by a blank stare. "Let's head back to the village. In the morning, we can have a guide show us where they found Newcastle and hopefully pick up the trail from there."

"We? No way in hell am I letting you come with me, Sheppard. Too dangerous for a woman."

"Stow it, Michaels. I had the same training you did, so can the "too dangerous" crap. And like hell I'm letting you wonder off into the desert against unknown, man eating threats that killed four men and wounded two others without backup." As Erika turned back toward the trail that led to the village, she thought she saw the barest of smiles touch Captain Michaels' thin lips, but when she glanced at him again, it was gone. Dismissing it as a trick of her eyes, Erika continued to the village in silence, Michaels reluctantly following a step behind.

To Be Continued…


	16. Chapter 16

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?**

Chapter 16

A/N: Part 2. This part is a little more action filled. Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think by leaving a review.

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They sat next to each other behind a large boulder as the sun slowly sank on the western horizon, lighting the sky in oranges and reds and pinks. Erika sat with her back against the boulder as far from Michaels as their merger cover allowed her, which meant their shoulders were just barely touching. Her knees were bent, her feet flat on the cracked, dried ground, her wrists crossed loosely over her knees. Her M16 sat on the ground next to her, within easy reach if needed.

She glanced up at the darkening sky as Michaels shifted, peering over the rock toward the cave entrance. Their guide, one of the village's hunters, had been able to track whatever killed four men and left another two maimed, but would not stay with them. She and Michaels had been sitting outside of the cave for half the day in the hot sun, their only savior coming in the form of the afternoon shade from the boulder and the water canister each of them carried.

"Guess we're not getting back to the village by nightfall," Erika grumbled to herself.

"You could have gone to the Alpha site with Johnson and Fujimako," Michaels replied without sympathy as he continued to scan the cave entrance. "Damn, I was hoping this thing would come out by now."

"Must be nocturnal. Means it only comes out-"

"I know what nocturnal means, Sheppard," Michaels snapped back.

"Jeez, sorry. No need to be an ass about it," Erika retorted. Michaels sat back down, his shoulder leaning into Erika's in a manner that was more than uncomfortable. She shrugged him off, shifting her body away so that he slipped into the dirt at the base of the boulder. She turned and crouched down in order to look over the boulder at the entrance of the cave for herself.

"Tokala said they went out earlier than normal to hunt. He said the sun hadn't even risen when they left the protection of the village," Erika rambled, more to herself than to Michaels. "And the bodies weren't found too far from the village, which means whatever did this was…waiting? And it didn't drag the bodies, so it ate them at the site?"

"Could you shut up?" Michaels yelled.

"I'm trying to figure out what the hell we've gotten ourselves into," Erika snapped back.

"It could to be a Goa'uld."

"It's not," Erika replied without thinking.

"How the yell do you know?" Erika almost smacked herself in the head. Her sensitivity to the Goa'uld was not well known in the SGC.

"Goa'uld won't eat human flesh, Michaels. You saw those remains same as I did," she said as she turned to look at him. The oranges of sunset were gone, leaving only the silky white of moonlight shining over them. She could not see his features, just his silhouette. But she did not need to see his face to know what he was thinking. She was thinking the same thing.

She turned back to the cave opening and her blood ran cold. There was a shadow over the entrance, darker than the surrounding twilight. It was tall, taller than seven feet. Erika could barely see its features: maybe the outline of high ears, definitely the outline of a tail, bipedal but with a weird hunch to its back and hindquarters. It turned toward their hiding place. Erika barely had time to notice the red eyes before she ducked back behind the boulder.

"Shit," she whispered as she scrambled for her weapon. "Fuck"

"What?" Michaels replied, also whispering.

"It's here. It's right outside the cave," Erika replied. She stuck her hand out to where her backpack had been resting, cursing herself for not putting her night vision goggles in a more accessible place before darkness fell.

"What are you talking about, Sheppard?" Michaels said much louder than Erika cared for. "I don't see anything. It's just your imagination. Jesus, Sheppard, didn't know you where so jumpy."

Erika finally fished her goggles out and fitted them on her head. The landscape turned green, objects that had disappeared in the night suddenly visible again. She stood and looked at the cave opening with Michaels.

"It was right there," she swore in a harsh whisper. "I did not just imagine it, Michaels." She turned her head, scanning the area for signs of the creature, her gun clutched in her hands. For the first time in a long while, Erika was actually scared.

"Fuck," Michaels whispered next to her. Erika spun around again and the creature, or a second one, was standing just outside the cave. With the goggles on, Erika could more clearly see its features. It looked like a coyote, with high ears and a pointed snout, but it stood on its hind feet, its tail hanging between its legs down to its knees.

Erika gasped. Next to her, Michaels held his breath as the creature looked around, its small red eyes coming to rest on her and Michaels. Its tongue darted out of its mouth, licking its chops before it raised its head. A barking howl broke the still night air.

The answering call was mere feet behind them.

Erika swung around, gun raised, and shot as the second creature, the one she had seen earlier, ran at her and Michaels. She heard Michaels' gun explode into action next to her, saw the creature in front of her stagger but not fall. It leapt, coming down hard on Erika, scratching at her exposed arms, snapping its maw at her face and throat. She just barely managed to hold it off, flipping her gun before it landed so that it was between the beast and her naked throat.

"Michaels!" she shrieked over the growling and snarling as the creature struggled against her uplifted gun. Her arms screamed at her, and she could feel the blood streaming down, soaking the sleeves of her shirt.

Suddenly, the beast was gone.

Erika lay in the dirt, gasping for every breath as her blood spilled into the sand from the scratches on her arms. Her stomach and legs burned. Her pants felt sticky and it briefly crossed her mind that her legs were bleeding as well.

"Fuck, I lost 'em," Michaels swore. Erika heard him reload his weapon. "Sheppard. Sheppard?" She felt him kneel at her side.

"Sheppard, get up."

Erika nodded, or attempted to nod. Her felt light headed. She closed her eyes for a moment and willed all the pain to go away. Although it did not work the way she wanted it to, Erika pushed herself off of the dirt anyway and on to her elbows anyway. She stopped for a second to let the dizziness pass before pushing up into a sitting position. Michaels offered a hand. Erika let him pull her the rest of the way up. A gun was pressed into her hands.

"Come on. It could come back any minute."

It was enough to get Erika moving. She stumbled along next to Michaels, allowing the other captain to help her as they moved through the dark, sparse desert away from the cave and back toward the village.

"They won't let us back in at night," Erika managed to comment as they half ran, half staggered through the night. She was starting to feel weak.

"I know," Michaels replied. He shifted his gun as she stumbled to support more of her weight.

"Shit, my pack," Erika finally remembered through the haze of pain and shock. She tried to turn, but just stumbled into Michaels. He caught her, kept her from falling, and shifted again to help her back to her feet.

"I got it," he assured her.

They continued on in silence. Erika's legs were on fire. She felt the blood spilling down her legs, down her stomach, sticking her clothes to her body as they moved. Her arms became dead weight at her sides. She could barely hold her gun. She leaned more and more of her weight on Michaels as they moved until they were barely hobbling.

She did not say anything, just kept walking, trying to push the pain from her mind so she could focus. She needed to help Michaels if that creature or its friend attacked them again. But it soon became obvious that she would not be able to keep up with him. She was putting his life in danger.

"Michaels, we've got to stop. I can't keep going," she panted out. Her body was failing as the shock wore out and the exhaustion set in. Michaels complied. They stopped next to a small outcropping of desert plants, scrubs with more thorns than leaves. He dropped their gear before slowly lowering Erika to the ground.

In the dim moonlight, Erika lifted the hem of her shirt and examined her wounded belly. The scratches were many but none of them were deep enough to worry about. Most had all ready stopped bleeding. Satisfied, Erika lowered her shirt and turned to her arms. Again, there were lots of tiny cuts and scraps, but most were swallow. A few on her left arm and at least one on her right arm would need stitches.

"Hand me my bag."

Michaels did. Erika rummaged through it, pulling free a spare t-shirt, her canteen, and a small med kit. She threw the shirt at Michaels.

"Rip it into stripes," she commanded. She did not look to see if he followed through, instead she opened the med kit and drew out a vial and small syringe. Before Michaels could say anything, she filled the syringe and plunged into in to her thing, draining the liquid into her body.

"What the hell?"

"Morphine," she quickly explained as she took the cloth stripes from him. She wet one, using it to clean the grim and blood from her arms before she begun wrapping the worst of the wounds. She felt along her legs, wrapping the deeper scratches, more than she wanted to count, the best she could with the remaining shreds of the shirt. Finished, she took a long drink from the canteen and stored it back in her bag. With some effort, and more than a little help from Michaels, she stood on shaking legs.

"Okay, let's go."

Michaels stood next to her for a while, silent, just watching her.

"What?"

"Just impressed, is all. I thought you were gonna whine like a little bitch. Beg me to leave you and all that crap. I under estimated you, Sheppard."

"Go fuck yourself," Erika replied, but there was no venom in her voice. "Fuck, I don't know how long the morphine is gonna help. We need to move while I still can." Michaels just nodded. He lifted both of their packs, handed Erika her gun, and put his free arm around her shoulders to support her as they moved.

They continued through the night, Erika leaning on Michaels as they jogged through the desert. She scanned back and forth with her night vision, certain that the coyote like beasts were keeping just out of range. They were hunting, and Erika and Michaels were their prey. The two humans could not keep their pace for much longer. Erika knew they would have to rest soon, sooner than she would like because she could already feel the effects of the drug wavering.

There was no way they could make the village. If they were even headed in the right direction. Plus the villages did not let any one back in the village at night, for fear of the creatures. But Erika didn't voice her opinion. She suspected Michaels all ready knew their chances of surviving this night were slim.

When they stopped again, a few minutes or a few hours later Erika could not tell, it was because she could hardly walk. Her body shook, every step, every breath, an effort. She sank to the ground, Michaels following a second later. He was panting. Erika could imagine the pain he was in, having to almost drag her dead weight, plus their gear, as their pursuers chased them. The leaned on each other, back to back.

"This is as good a place as any to die," he casually remarked, his head dropping back on to her shoulder.

"Yeah."

A pause.

"Thanks, Michaels."

"Might as well call me Brad." His head moved.

"Erika."

They both chuckled.

Erika could barely make out the figure of the creature as it came closer. Then her vision went black. She laughed as she pulled the goggles off her head and tossed them on the ground beside her.

"Batteries went dead."

"Mine, too."

She watched the darkness, waiting for the beast to come into her field of vision, thankful that the moon cast a little light on to the barren landscape. When she finally saw the beast, running full speed towards her, she opened fire.

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Erika opened her eyes. It was just barely dawn, the sky on fire with oranges and pinks and reds, the sun still hidden behind the mountains. She could hear the first of the birds begin their morning song. She could smell something roasting, and her stomach grumbled. She tried to sit up, but every muscle in her body protested the movement.

"Hey, Erika, try not to move."

At first, Erika did not recognize the voice. Then a face appeared above her. It took a moment for her eyes to focus, but when they did, she recognized the man hovering above her.

"Brad?" She struggled to get her elbows underneath her so she could sit up, fighting through the pain as she did. They were in a small canyon surrounded by the small, thorny plants. A fire crackled in a fire pit, some type of small animal on a spit cooking over the open flames. Erika blinked as she looked around the make shift camp sight.

"We survived? How long have I been out?"

"All of yesterday. Most of today. You were fighting a fever for the first day. More than a few of those scratches were infected. I put some antibiotics on the worst of them."

Erika looked around again and realized it was not almost sunrise, but sunset. She nodded before looking back at Brad.

"Those creatures?"

"You killed them. You shot the first one, the one that attacked us back at the cave. It must have been half dead. The second one would have had me, but your stabbed it through the back of the head with your knife. You passed out after that. You don't remember?"

Erika closed her eyes, trying to remember the details of the fight. All she could think of was screaming and pain and red. A wave of dizziness passed over her, interrupting her reverie.

"You should rest," she heard Brad say as she was lowered back down to the ground.

When she woke again, the sun was high in the sky. She grimaced, but she sat up. Slowly, she began to test her sore muscles, working out the stiffness with small stretches: rolling her shoulders, stretching her arms over her head, flexing and loosening her calves. Scabs from the attack pulled painfully at the skin on her arms and legs as she moved them. Her knee popped as she straightened it.

"That sounded painful," Brad commented as he came into view. Erika shrugged.

"Old injury."

He looked at her, a curious expression on his face, but did not say anything about it. Instead, he held out a hand and helped her to her feet. Erika wobbled for a moment but found her equilibrium.

"Can you walk?" She took a few experimental steps forward before nodding. "Good. We can make it to the 'gate in a few hours if we push. Might take us half a day if we move slowly. But we need to get you back to the infirmary as soon as we can. I don't like the way some of those scratches are looking."

Erika looked at her arms and nodded. They were red and puffy, clearing infected. She grabbed her pack from the desert floor and followed Brad out of the canyon. She felt weak and dizzy and hoped they made it to the 'Gate soon so she could lay back down and rest.

They helped each other, sometimes Erika carrying both packs so Brad could rest, sometimes Brad carrying both so Erika could rest. They leaned on each other, both trying to keep their feet moving. When Erika saw the circle standing in the distance, she was able, for a moment or two, to walk without aide, but her energy did not last long. She could barely stand when they reached the DHD.

"Almost home," she heard Brad mumble to himself as he dialed Earth. Erika hefted herself to her feet. They limped through the 'gate, collapsing in a heap on the other side. Erika heard the din of commotion, one voice calling out her name, then everything went black.

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She awoke to the familiar sound of medical equipment beeping around her. Without opening her eyes, Erika tried to flex a few of her arm and leg muscles. They felt stiff, sore, and like they were wrapped in gauze. Something was pricking into her hand.

Slowly she opened her eyes and gazed around. Her legs, what was visible of them, were wrapped in white bandages. Taped to her left hand was an IV needle and tube. Her eyes followed the tube to a stand and two drip bags. Dropping her honey colored gaze back to her body confirmed her suspicions that her arms had also been bandaged. She knew if she peaked under her gown, her stomach would also be swathed in white cloth.

As Erika was giving herself the once over, a nurse walked into the room.

"Captain Sheppard," she said cheerfully. "I'm glad to see you're awake. Those were some pretty nasty scratches you had, animal claws can be so dirty, but most of the infections were all ready clearing. Captain Michaels did a good job bandaging your wounds."

"How is Brad?" Erika asked.

"See for yourself," a familiar voice said from the next bed over. Erika allowed a small smile to grace her lips before turning. He looked about the same as her: his arms and torso covered in white, a Band-Aid across one check.

"Ya know, you're not the wimp I thought you were, Erika. I mean, I thought you were some wanna be solider but couldn't hack it. Must have been why you had a desk job. But you tracked through the desert with me, killed those monsters, and were still able to hike back through the desert to the Stargate. You're pretty tough, for a chick."

Erika chuckled. "And you're not the lump headed, brain dead ass I thought you were, Brad. I mean, you're still kind of an ass, but you kept both of us alive, bandaging your wounds and mine and found out where the Stargate was. You actually have a brain inside that thick skull of yours."

He laughed in response. They're eyes locked and his laugher died down. "Erika, think maybe could have-"

"Erika," Daniel interrupted. Erika turned back to the doorway to find the archeologist standing there, one arm in a sling.

"Daniel," she replied, she usual jib about hating him dieing on her lips. "What happened to you?"

"I was shot." Erika raised an eyebrow. "By Jack."

"What?"

"It's a long story. What happened to you?"

"I was clawed. It's a long story."

There was an awkward silence.

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"Yeah, kind of," Erika replied.

"Okay, well, feel better."

"You, too."

As Daniel left, Erika turned back to Brad.

"So, I was wondering if we could get together some time-"

"Oh, I forgot to ask you about the Ancient outpost. I couldn't find your notes about Atlantis, so I though we could go over it now," Daniel said as he poked his head back into the room. Erika sighed.

"I hate you."


	17. Chapter 17

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?**

**Chapter 17**

**A/N:** So, shortest chapter ever. Mainly, this is just a filler chapter. I was going to write about them going to Antarctica in this chapter, but I decided to wait on that because it's going to be longer.

Anywho, I've been a bit sidetracked by some other things in RL, but I'm working on this story all the time (even if it's just think up ideas). So the next installment should be up soon.

As always, thanks for reading, double thanks for reviewing.

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Daniel stood behind her, reading over her shoulder as she typed. Erika's hands paused on the keyboard. She sighed and frowned and glanced over her shoulder at the man, but he did not seem to get the subtle hint that she was annoyed by his presence. So she bit her lip and kept typing, her gaze glancing every so often from the paper she was transcribing to the scientist's profile.

"Daniel, I'll be done in minute. You can read it when I'm finished," she final said.

"Yeah." He was silent for a moment. "Actually, I had a favor to ask."

"Shoot."

"There are these two delegates-"

"Forget it."

"And they want to set up some kind of trade agreement-"

"I said no"

"So they're coming to the SGC for negotiations-"

"Ask someone else."

"And they need someone to help mediate." Daniel continued, completely ignoring her negative responses. "Since I can't do it-"

"What part of 'no' do you not understand?"

"I thought you could."

"You volunteered me all ready, didn't you?" Erika accused. Daniel did not even have to answer. His face told the tale clearly. "Fine. What am I mediating?"

"Two delegates from the planet Amra are coming back with SG-5 to discuss a possible trade agreement with Earth. Major Davis will be leading the negotiations, so he just needs someone to help out."

"Why can't you do this? You're must better with people than I am. Daniel, I have the patience of a five year old."

"Oh, I'm really busy," he replied. "Besides, if you do this, I'll take you to Antarctica when I go next week. I can have Jack clear you for two weeks at the Antarctic base."

Erika hid her delight at the prospect. The data Elizabeth sent them from the Ancient outpost was promising and Erika was dying to look at it for herself. But she could not comprise that easily. "I want out of the next five negotiations."

"Two."

"Three."

"Done." He stuck a file that he had been hiding behind his back out in front of him. With narrowed eyes, Erika snatched it from his hands. She opened the file to a random page and quickly glanced over it. Her eyes widened as she read it.

"Really? Daniel, you freaking set me up. God, I hate you."

"Antarctica."

"Okay, I hate you a little less now."

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Erika stood in the 'Gate room behind Major Davis as the delegates walked down the ramp from the Stargate. She glanced up to the briefing room above, just barely able to make out Daniel's outline before he stepped away from the glass. She drew her hands into fists, concentrating on the prize at the end of the tunnel. Antarctica. The Ancient outpost. Two weeks locked in an underground base with the repository of Ancient knowledge at her fingertips. And she could use the chair to unlock those wonders. And as a bonus, she would not have to go any where near the next three negotiations held at the SGC.

_Just keep your eye on the prize, Erika. Keep your eye on the prize,_ she told herself as she stepped in line with Major Davis.

"Gentlemen," Davis said as he ushered the delegates into the conference room. Erika followed them, making a funny face, her eyebrows scrunched together, her lips jutted out, as she passed the major. He put a hand over his month and coughed.

"Shall we begin?" he asked as he shot a pointed glare Erika's way. Erika just nodded and smiled back. Major Davis was a pro at these talks, and Erika had survived enough to know what her place would be during them. She hoped they would end quickly as she silently took her place next to Major Davis.

Erika's hopes were dashed against the rocks after the first ten minutes of the talks. According to the file Erika very briefly read, the delegates were negotiating for some crops that they could not grow on their planet, as well as certain medicines that the locals had yet to discover. In exchange, Earth would be getting shipments of naquida and a few other metals that were rare on Earth but found in abundant on the planet of Amra.

Unfortunately, the two delegates seemed to disagree with everything everyone said. First it was about what crops they needed verses what Major Davis and the agriculture expert said they could safely send. Then it was about the amount sent. Then it was about whom on their planet would receive the crops. Then back to which crops should be sent in the first place.

It was at that point that Erika wondered why she needed to be at the discussions at all.

Major Davis changed the subject to the medical supplied, but the round robin continued. The two delegates disagreed with the Earth representatives about the amount of supplies. Then they disagreed with each other about the distribution of the supplies. Then they disagreed about what kind of supplies they really needed.

Major Davis switched subjects again to the mining of the naquida, and the arguing continued anew. They disagreed with how much naquida to send to the Earth, even though one of the Earth delegates, Erika never did catch any of their names, insisted that, with the amount of crops they demanded, Earth should receive much more naquida than they were willing to promise.

Davis stood as the two delegates continued to argue about the quantity and quality of naquida to send to Earth. Erika watched, jealous, as he traveled down the stairs. She turned her attention back to the two men, who had changed topics to mining rights.

"The mountains are the only place we can mine naquida," snapped one. He was dressed in rich blue robes that were highlighted with gold. He ran a hand through full wheat colored hair as he spoke to the other one.

"They are not the only place. The plains have plenty of naquida that no one has every touched," the other retorted. His robes, just as opulent at the others, where red instead of blue. The top of his shaved head was barely to the man in blue's nose. Erika wondered how someone shorter could look down his nose at his opponent while still having to look up when speaking to him.

"There is a reason no one has touched it. We do not mine in the plains."

"There is no reason why we can not mine them."

"The Plains of Goran are sacred ground," the blue one barked.

"To the plainsmen," the other replied, his voice condescending and snide.

"I am a plainsman." Erika could tell the one in blue barely held his anger in check.

"I know," Red replied, his contempt for the other man written clearly on his features as he looked Blue up and down.

Blue shook. He jabbed his finger up so it was inches from Red's nose. "I take offence to that."

"A fence. Now there's an idea."

"Hi ya, folks," General O'Neill shouted as he entered the room. Erika tried to hide her smirk behind a hand to her lips.

"General, I think it would be best if-" Blue started, but General O'Neill interrupted before he could get any steam behind his words.

"What do you say if we take a little break? All this negotiating, it's just exhausting. And you've been at it a whole-" he stopped to check his watch, "-hour all ready. We've prepared special quarters for you. You can relax, get a massage, room service, whatever you need. Come on, I'll show you." He turned and walked out of the room. With little choice, the delegates followed. Erika followed after.

"What's going on?" she whispered to Davis as they walked next to each other.

"I have no idea. But he did mention something about a time out," the major replied in the same hushed voice. They followed the General and two delegates around the halls of the SGC to the guest quarters. He showed them into a single room, then left, locking the two together.

"No body gets out," he said to the airman who was acting guard. Erika turned to Davis. He had the same disbelieving expression on his face that she knew was on her own. They both turned back to the general at the same time.

"Sir, what about the negotiations?" Major Davis asked, his voice raising half an octave.

"Done for now, Davis. Until those two-" he jerked his thumb back towards the closed and locked door, "-can agree on something. So you guys are free to go back to your regular duties." His dark eyes swept back and forth between Erika and Davis. "Whatever those are."

With that, General O'Neill stepped passed to two stunned officers and continued down the hall, going back to whatever he had been doing before the interruption. Erika continued to stare at the spot he had vacated. She could still hear the two men behind the locked door screaming, whether at each other or at the airman guarding the door, Erika was not sure.

Realization slowly set in as shock faded. Erika grinned. Widely. She just got out of the next three negotiations and got a _free_ trip to Antarctica for only an hours worth of negotiating. And she did not even do anything at the negotiations.

"Captain? Where are you going?" Erika looked over her shoulder as she walked away from the diplomats and the Major.

"I have some planning to do before I go to the Ancient outpost."


	18. Chapter 18

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?**

**Chapter 18**

AN: So, um, sorry it takes me so long to update this story. A big, huge, thanks to all the readers who are still sticking with me on this one. I was in the longer writer's funk I've been in in a while. But I think that might be behind me now. Hopefully I'll have another update soon. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter. Oh, and thanks for all the reviews so far. ~safarigirl

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Erika stuffed another Air Force sweatshirt into her large duffle bag. She looked around her room, making a mental list of all the things she all ready packed verses the things she still needed to pack. She checked them off on her fingers as she ran through her list: socks, underwear, long underwear, sweaters, sweatshirts, gloves, hats, scarves. Check, check, check, check, check, check, check, and check. She scrunched her nose as she thought of the few things that still needed to be packed for her trip.

"You look deep in through," Brad commented from her bed. Erika smirked as she shifted her eyes to the man lounging across her bed. He pillowed his head in one hand, his fingers splayed in his cropped blond hair, wearing nothing more than her bathrobe. The white garment was not tired around his waist, just draped over his frame. It left his tanned, muscular chest exposed to her. She openly stared at him, running her tongue over her lips as she did.

Erika suddenly forgot about packing.

It took her one and a half steps to get to the edge of the bed. Without a pause, she launched herself at the man, knocking him on to his back and devouring his lips with hers. She felt his calloused hands grab at her waist and slowly make their way up her naked sides until they hit the fabric of her bra. They slide back down, tantalizing slow as his tongue brushed against her lips. With a moan, she opened her mouth, allowing him access. She darted her tongue out, pressing against his as his thumbs traced the material of her panties.

Erika groaned as she pulled away from the man under her. Her hands dug into the sheets on either side of his head as his hands continued to move between the boundary created by the bottom of her bra and the top of her underwear.

"You're not being very helpful," she commented lightly. His hands paused in their ministrations as his green eyes stared up at her honey colored ones. One hand darted out to grab a pair of socks still lying on the bed. He haphazardly threw them toward her duffle bag. They landed a foot short.

"There," Brad said, his voice matching her tone, "I helped." He pulled her down as he leaned up, their lips meeting again.

Erika chuckled into the kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers running over his short hair.

"What time do you have to leave?" he whispered against her lips as he momentarily broke their kiss.

"Not until morning."

"Good."

His leg moved against hers. Suddenly, their positions were reversed, with Brad on top and Erika under him. He crushed his lips against hers, his tongue darting out to taste her. Erika opened her month, allowing him in, her tongue mirroring his, as they tasted each other. She could feel his desire and matched it. It left them pushing against each, moaning into each other each time flesh connected with flesh. The kissed ended only because of their need for air, and both were breathing heavily when they parted.

Erika kept her eyes locked to Brad's as his hands moved slowly up her body, his fingertips like fire where ever they touched her. She arched into his touch, shivering at the passion in his eyes as his hands traced the edge of her bra.

"Two weeks, huh?" he asked, his voice rough as his hands continued to move over the fabric.

"Two weeks," she repeated. She was practically shaking under his fingers.

"Guess I should make this last as long as I can."

Erika smirked. "Guess so."

His lips descended on to hers again, and she melted into him.

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I… Hate everything about you Why…

_Do I love you?_

Erika cracked an eye open. It swiveled toward the digital clock sitting on her bedside table. The clock blinked back at her: 7:15.

I… Hate everything about you Why… Do I love you?

A hand sluggishly moved out from under two layers of blankets and snaked toward the cell phone sitting besides the clock.

Only when I stop

_To think about you_

Do I know

The hand latched onto the phone and pulled it toward the head still nestled on the oversized pillow. The phone flipped opened, the eye not bothering to see who it was, before it was placed on the only other body part that escaped the warmth of blankets: the ear.

"Someone had better be dead, Daniel," Erika managed to mumble out in her hazy, not-quite-awake state.

"Our flight got bumped. I'm on my way to pick you up. I'll be there in 10, maybe 15 minutes," the voice on the other end replied.

A groan. "I hate you."

"I'm bringing coffee."

A sigh. "You still have my key?"

"Yeah."

"Just let yourself in when you get here. And if there is not a very large cup of coffee waiting for me when I get out of the shower, there will be blood."

Daniel chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. See ya in a bit. Hey," he said before Erika hung up, "how did you know it was me?"

"I have a special ring tone for you," Erika replied before she slammed the phone shut. She rolled over on to her back and lay in bed for another minute, allowing her body to wake up before she attempted to actually get. From the end of the bed, Zariel lifted her head and meowed softly. Erika raised her head the inch needed to watch as her cat stood, stretched, and walked over the comforter to step onto Erika's chest and meow again into her face. Erika chuckled.

"All right, Zariel, yes it's time for mom to get up. I get it." She reached up and scratched the calico behind her ears. The cat titled her head into Erika's fingers, purring as she did. Erika's hand moved down the cat's fur, scratching as she went. Zariel head-butted Erika's forehead, cried again, and jumped off of her owner's bed. She looked back at the human as she cried a fourth time before heading out of the bedroom and into the living room where her food bowl was kept. Erika laughed when the cat poked her head back into the room when Erika did not immediately follow.

"All right, all right, I get it. You're hungry. Hold you horses, I'm getting up to feed you."

With great reluctance, Erika threw the covers back and sat up. She swung her feet over the edge of the bed as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. God, she was tired. She only went to sleep at two. A smile crept across her lips as she thought of the reason why she went to sleep so late. She woke at five to walk Brad out so he could be to work by 0600 for a meeting. She did feel a little sorry about that. He had a full day of work ahead of him, while Erika could hopefully sleep on the plane. Of course, he did not complain about it last night.

Erika let that thought linger as she scooped out half a cup of cat food and dumped it into Zariel's bowl. With the cat happily feed, Erika headed back to her room, grabbed a clean set of clothes, and went into the bathroom.

Showered and changed, she returned to the living room, still towel drying her hair, to find Daniel sitting on her brown leather couch. Resting on the coffee table in front of him where two cups of drive-thru coffee. Erika grabbed the larger of the two and took a large gulp, not caring that it burned slightly on the way down.

"Ready to go?" Daniel asked once Erika consumed the life sustaining liquid.

"Yeah," the captain replied as she tossed the paper cup into her trash. She took her duffle bag in hand and slung the strap over her shoulder. "Let's go."

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"No, Rodney," Erika repeated for the hundredth time. "I'm busy. Go find someone else."

"Captain," the Canadian replied, waving his arms as he did, "I only require a few minutes of your time. And there is no one else. You're the only one who tested positive for the gene."

"I hear the new doctor tested positive as well. Go bug him. I'm busy."

"Carson? No no no, Carson's gene expression is much weaker than yours. And he's scared to death of that chair. Thinks he's going to blow something up. And what can you possibly be doing that's more important than discovering the Ancient's secrets?"

Erika looked up from the mountains of paperwork that covered the makeshift desk. The scientist stood at the threshold, bouncing from one foot to the other. The sleeves of his orange sweater were pushed up to his elbows. The captain sighed at his excited expression and dropped her pen to the desktop.

"Thirty minutes, Rodney, then I have to get back to work. Daniel needed this research yesterday. I can't keep taking breaks because you 'think you found something' and need me to check the database. And, for your information, I am looking for the Ancient's secrets: the secret to finding Atlantis," Erika ranted as she stood and walked around the mess scattered around her desk. The paperwork spilled over on to the extra chair and floor. Erika grimaced when she stepped on something that crackled. The paperwork wasn't the only thing spilt on the floor.

"Admit it," Rodney gloated as they walked from her makeshift office to the chair, "you're just as excited about using that chair as I am."

Erika's sneer turned into a grin. Damn him. "Fine, I'm excited. What did you find?"

Rodney started in, explaining something far to technical for Erika to understand. She nodded in what she hoped were all the right places, but she wasn't really paying attention to the physicist's ranting. Instead, her mind wandered to the wonders that the chair unfolded to her. Last time she went with Rodney, they had discovered how to open the missile silos without setting off any of the missiles. Rodney had dismissed her immediately in favor of his new toy.

"Are you listening to me?" Rodney asked as they neared the chair.

"Not really," Erika replied truthfully. She ignored his sputtering in favor of sitting down in the chair and leaning back.

"Okay, think about where we are-" Erika pulled up a map of the galaxy, smirking while she did it. She turned it right, then left before focusing in on Sol

"I think I know the drill by now, Rodney," she said even as she played with the map of the galaxy, focusing in and out on various star systems. "What are we looking for today?"

"Well, yes, of course," Rodney replied, rolling down the sleeves of his sweater. "We found a few passages from our last download that I'd like to delve deeper into. It's fairly complicated, but the jest of it has to do with how the Ancients calculated the distance between planets and how they used that knowledge to build the Stargate network. It's actually fascinating how they used pi – oh, very funny Captain. Can you focus please?" Rodney lectured when a whole apple pie floated above Erika's head.

"Sorry, Rodney. I'm not really the math wiz in my family. My cousin, on the other hand, has a bachelors in mathematics or engineering or something like that," the brunette replied as she steered her mind away from desserts and on to physicy type things.

"I think I'd like to meet your cousin," Rodney replied.

"Yeah, I doubt it. He can be a real asshole," Erika commented absently as she searched through the Ancient database, looking for anything about Stargates and wormholes. A strange image ran through her mind and Erika stopped her search. The image of a foreign Stargate appeared in the space above her.

"Whoa, what did you do?" Rodney asked, staring at the slowly spinning image.

"I don't know," Erika replied, her gaze equally locked to the new 'gate. "That doesn't look like any of the 'gates I've seen before."

"Those symbols, they're not on any 'gates in this solar system," Rodney agreed. The importance of their observations struck them at the same time.

"Daniel." "Dr. Weir." They shouted together. Daniel got there first, an annoyed expression on his face.

"I don't have time to – what's that?" he asked, pointing up at the floating Stargate. Erika turned her head, a smiling spreading from ear to ear.

"It's a Stargate."

"I can see that."

"What's going on out here?" Elizabeth asked as she joined the group. "And why is there a giant Stargate hanging from the ceiling?"

"Look at it more closely," Rodney prompted. Elizabeth and Daniel stared.

"I give up," Elizabeth declared after a few seconds. Daniel continued to study it, his face first contorting then lighting up.

"Those symbols."

"Yep," Erika said excitedly, her eyes following the symbols around the circle. She recognized two, no three of them all ready.

"They're like the other ones."

"Yes."

"You know what this means?"

"Yes," Erika replied, the huge smile never leaving her face.

"I don't know what it means," Elizabeth interrupted. "Care to fill me in?"

"About a month ago, Erika discovered a small database that looked like 'gate addresses," Daniel started.

"Only, they didn't match any of the symbols on our 'gate," Erika supplied.

"Yes. They were part of an Ancient database. It's where we also found the partial address to Atlantis. But these symbols-"

"They match," Erika interrupted. Daniel turned blue eyes her way. Erika smiled sheepishly and shut her mouth.

"They match?" Elizabeth asked.

"So that means that this 'gate could be-"

"An image from the one on Atlantis," Rodney finished.

"Erika," Daniel called, turning away from the image and speed walking toward his makeshift office. Erika hopped off the chair, the image of the Stargate fading as she did. She followed her boss out of the room.

"It's in another galaxy," Daniel was saying.

"That's why we couldn't figure it out," Erika replied.

"You know what this means?"

"Yes," Erika smiled. She thought about if for a second and her smile faltered. "Yes," she replied more sullenly.

"Good, because I'm going to need that book."

"With that page?"

"Yes. And that notebook."

"With the cover."

"That's the one."

"What about that other notebook?"

"I don't think so."

"It has that translation."

"Right. Bring it. Then, when you get back to the SGC, I need the file e-mailed to me and I need you to start on the translation."

"Right." They parted ways, Erika rushing to her small space as Daniel went into his office. Erika gathered the supplies she needed and headed back to Daniel. Elizabeth caught up to her on her way.

"So what does all that mean?"

Erika barely paused in her stride. "We can find the lost city of Atlantis."


	19. Chapter 19

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?**

Chapter 19

AN: Small cameo from our Atlantis team in this one. Thanks for all the reviews from last chapter. Hope you guys enjoy this one. ~safarigirl

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Erika stood next to Daniel in the Control Room. She looked down at the organized chaos that was the Gate Room. Scientists moved boxes and crates into the back as soldiers piled into the room near the ramp. Her gaze swept over the room, watching the lively faces of the expedition team as Dr. Weir finished her pep talk.

"Begin the dialing sequence," Elizabeth called from the floor before walking down the ramp. Erika turned her attention to Walter, her heart pounding in her chest as the sergeant dialed the address.

"Chevron 1 encoded," Walter intoned as the first chevron lit up on the Stargate. The Control Room was eerily silent, although the buzzing chatter of excited Atlantis personnel could be heard through the open doors. Erika smiled. It sounded like a hive of bees.

"Chevron 2 encoded." Erika turned her attention back to the Stargate as it slowly spun to the next chevron.

"Chevron 3 encoded." Elizabeth walked into the Control Room and stood next to General O'Neill. She was almost bouncing with excitement. Erika envied her.

"Chevron 4 encoded."

"Nice," General O'Neill stated. Elizabeth's smile grew.

"Thank you."

"Chevron 5 encoded." Rodney entered the room behind Dr. Weir. He stood next to the expedition leader, his hands linked behind his back.

"Chevron 6 encoded," Walter continued.

"This is it," Elizabeth said excitedly. She turned to Rodney, who showed no emotion at all. Erika rolled her eyes at the scientist's demeanor. She was excited and she wasn't even going to Atlantis. Not that she hadn't tried.

"Guess I've got to calm down. How embarrassing," Elizabeth continued, her tone carrying hints of sarcasm.

"Chevron 7 encoded."

"I've never been so excited in my entire life," Rodney calmly intoned.

"Chevron 8 is locked," Walter said as the Stargate whooshed to life. Cheers resounded through the Gate Room and Control Room. Erika joined in, shouting out a quick "woo!" It earned her a small grin from Daniel before the archeologist turned back to the Gate room.

"Send in the MALP," Elizabeth said, a huge smile on her face. The tension in the room was thick and wrapped around like a wool blanket. Erika felt her skin prickle with anticipation as she watched the screen, waiting for the MALP to report its findings.

There was a beep. "We have MALP telemetry," the technician commented lightly. Elizabeth glanced up at one of the overhead screens as Rodney sat at the terminal.

"What is it we're looking at?"

"Switching to zero lux," the technician replied as he tapped a few keys. Erika glanced up at the monitors.

"Radar indicates a large room," Rodney interpreted helpfully as the MALP camera passed back and forth over the area.

"It's structurally intact?" Daniel asked. Erika caught a more than a hint of awe in the man's voice as they both stared up at the screens.

Rodney nodded. "Sensors say there's oxygen, no measurable toxins. We have viable life support." He stood and turned to Elizabeth, his expression a mixture of panic and excitement. "Looks like we're not getting out of this."

Dr. Weir smiled as Rodney left the room. She stared out at the glistening blue of the wormhole for a moment before turning to General O'Neill with a nervous smile. The general returned her smile with a small one of his own.

"Dr. Weir, you have a go."

"Thank you, sir." She turned and left the Control Room. Erika stood next to Daniel, watching as Colonel Sumner started up the ramp, only to be stopped by Elizabeth as the doctor entered the Gate Room, zipping her jacket up with one clean swipe. She grabbed her backpack from the foot of the ramp and neatly swung it across her back before joining the colonel. They walked to the top of the ramp together.

Elizabeth stopped at the top of the ramp, looking at the blue liquid that filled the gate. She looked back, a smile ghosting over her lips. Out of the corner of her eye, Erika saw General O'Neill give her a quick nod. The team leader returned it before turning back and stepping through.

"Jack, it's not too late for me to-" Daniel started.

"No," General O'Neill interrupted.

"I-I-I could just grab my-"

"No," the general repeated.

"Kit," Daniel finished lamely. His glare shot to Erika, who hid her snickering behind a well timed cough and a hand raised to her lips.

"You could just send me inst-"

"No," two voices interrupted before Erika could fully voice her request. The young woman shrugged when she felt Daniel's eyes boring into her. She turned her head, honey eyes locking with blue. She knew she could not hide the laugher shining through her orbs, or the smirk that graced her lips. Of course she was not going to Atlantis. Not without Daniel anyway.

"All clear. Looks good," Colonel Sumner's voice called over the radio. The general leaned down over the microphone, pressing the button to speak as he did so.

"Expedition team, move out," he said. Erika allowed her gaze to return to the Gate Room as the first two members of the expedition team stared at the event horizon. Erika recognized the younger of the two men. They met at the Ancient outpost. His name was Lieutenant Ford. His back was toward the Stargate and he was talking to the second person at the top of the ramp, his eyes wide with excitement. Erika allowed her gaze to shift to the second man. A small gasp escaped her lips when she caught the barest glance of his profile. She would know him anywhere.

John.

"I have to go," she said suddenly, brushing behind Daniel, almost pushing one of the techs out of the way in her haste to reach the stairs just as the man with the messy dark chocolate hair stepped into the wormhole.

"Erika," Daniel called out.

"Just forgot a report," the captain called back over her shoulder, using the first excuse that came to mind. She took the stairs down to the hall way two at a time, jumping over the last three in her haste to leave the Control Room, leave the scene of her pain.

"Captain Sheppard," someone called as Erika hurried past. "Erika." Erika paused in her stride.

"Shouldn't you be in the Control Room? I mean, this is pretty history stuff you're witnessing right now."

"Yeah, good luck, Rodney," the young woman replied back over her shoulder, not really listening to what else the scientist was saying. She continued down the hall, her feet taking her back to her office without her mind consciously thinking about it. She fell into her chair, her mind frantically racing.

It could not have been John, could it have? He would have told her, would he have? Erika's mind spun. Maybe not. He did not tell her when he went to Afghanistan. He did not tell her when he was transferred to Antarctica. But they had been on the same planet. Could have seen each other at any time. Of course, they had not talked in over ten years. She had not heard so much as a "Hey, how's it going?" from her cousin since he left eleven fucking years ago. So why would he tell her he was going to another damn galaxy?

Maybe it was not really him. Maybe it was some look-a-like. Maybe he was still in Antarctica. Or maybe he was back in the States, hiding out in some crappy apartment that he paid way too much money for just so he could be close to the ocean so he could surf every day.

She turned to the computer, pulling up a file filled with pictures she was supposed to translate last week. She was barely a forth through the project. Now was as good a time as any to finish it. Except her eyes couldn't focus on the words because her mind continued to circle around thoughts of her estranged cousin. She stared at the screen for a few more minutes before she could not take it anymore. With a frustrated grunt, she pulled up the Air Force personnel database. It was the matter of a quick search: type his name, hit return, and be…what? Happy he was not in Atlantis? Happy he was in Atlantis?

"J. Sheppard" she typed into the search field. Her hand hovered over the return key as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

"This is stupid," she muttered under her breath, her index finger resting lightly on the black surface. She took a deep breath and pressed down. She stared at the screen as the search bar paced back and forth in its blue space. She closed her eyes, not wanting to watch.

The computer dinged when the search finished. Erika sighed deeply. She counted to three and opened her eyes.

There it was, staring her in the face. "Major John Sheppard – SGCA – classified." Her heart sank into her stomach and her stomach fell to the floor. He was gone. He left for Atlantis. He went to another galaxy. He went on a one-way mission, very little possibility that he was ever coming back. And he did not even bother to tell her. He did not even bother to find her and say goodbye.

She sighed again, trying to not let it get to her. After all, they had not spoken to each other in so long. And while she loved to blame John for it, after all she was fourteen when he left, it was not entirely all his fault. She could have found him. She could have written. Her fingers shook against the keyboard where they rested. She had written and he never replied back. And he was the one who left. Without even bothering to find her. She felt the sting of tears building up in her eyes. Angry with herself, she wiped the tears away with the back of her hand and minimized the screen. The pictures she was supposed to translate stared at her.

She stared back for a moment or two before deciding she could not really focus on her project. Her eyes fell back to the minimized window but bounced back to the pictures almost immediately. They were misted over, and, with a frustrated growl, Erika realized she was still crying.

She smacked the desk with her fist. "Damn it," she swore hotly. "Not for him. I swore I would never cry for that asshole again." The tears continued to roll down her face. Erika sniffed them back before resting her forehead against the cool wood.

"Damn it," she repeated softly.

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"So, how's that report coming?" Daniel asked. Erika swiveled in her chair to watch as the brunette entered their shared office. She shrugged noncommittally before turning back to the computer screen. She took the mouse in hand again and began clicking.

"I see," Daniel responded to her action. He crossed the space in three easy strides to stand behind her, his hands resting lightly in his pockets. "Ah, yes, the very important Bejeweled™ report. I remember talking about that one over lunch the other day. I believe we were both highly anticipating-" Erika shut off the game and stood.

"I'm going to lunch," she interrupted.

"Who's John? Daniel asked just as Erika brushed past him. She paused.

"No one," she replied hastily, hoping Daniel would not push it.

"Yeah," Daniel said, his tone conveying that he clearly did not buy it. "So after you left, I pulled up the personnel files for the people on the Atlantis mission. Funny thing. Major John Sheppard is listed as one of the Air Force personnel on the mission. And he has the Ancient Gene in spades." Daniel continued.

"Must run in the family," Erika muttered.

"So who is he?" Daniel persisted. "'Cause I'm pretty sure he's not your brother, unless there's one I don't know about. You never mentioned any uncles-"

"He's my cousin," Erika snapped back.

"Okay…did you want to talk about it?"

"No," Erika snapped again. She rushed out of the room, but took only a handful of steps toward the mess hall when she stopped and leaned back against the concrete wall. Her legs gave way. Slowly, she sank to the cold ground, her knees curled to her chest, her chin resting on her knees. After a few seconds, she lifted her head, watching as staff members walked up and down the hall, most ignoring her.

"Thought you were going to lunch," Daniel asked as he joined her about a minute later. Erika glanced up at him as he looked down at her. She shrugged, turning her gaze to a passing woman carrying a clipboard.

"I was. I am. I just decided to…"

"People watch in the middle of the hallway. Yes, I see how that's much better than eating lunch in the mess hall." Despite his sarcastic tone, Daniel sat Indian style next to her. "See anything interesting yet?"

"I'm pretty sure Dr. Kelly is smuggling rats out of the lab and bringing them to the mess," Erika replied, her eyes roaming over the nearly empty hall.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, it's either the rats or he's grown a few extra appendages. His pocket kept moving as he walked."

"Let's hope it's the rats." They sat in silence for a moment. A few of the people that passed looked down, but most continued on their way, too absorbed in their work or thoughts to bother with the man and woman sitting against the wall.

"I didn't know he was leaving until today," Erika finally admitted. She let her head fall against the wall and trailed her eyes to the tiled ceiling. "You think he would have tried to at least say 'goodbye'. Or 'I'm sorry,' or 'Hey, I'm leaving and it's probably a one-way trip and I'm a fucking asshole for not speaking to you for 11 years.' You know, something."

Daniel did not say anything, so Erika continued. "He's the only family I have left. Well, the only family who still remembers me and doesn't want to, you know-"

"Kill you," Daniel supplied. Erika chuckled without mirth.

"Yeah."

"But after 11 years?" asked Daniel after another moment of silence.

"I know," Erika exclaimed, causing a few heads to turn their way. "I know," she repeated softer. "But I always had this vision of us getting together again and it all just being…okay. We'd laugh and apologize and be a family again. Except now, he's taken this mission that takes him to the opposite side of the universe and I'll probably never see him again and he didn't even _try_ to make anything right."

"He, uh, was in," Daniel started, his words stumbling as if he did not want to bring up what he was about to say. "I did meet him in Antarctica. He was stationed there."

"And there's the kicker. He was on leave when I was at the Ancient Outpost. Probably on some beach in Australia surfing and drinking beers and picking up chicks." She dropped her head back to her knees. "I really wish I could fully and properly hate him."

"Shouldn't be too hard." She felt more than saw Daniel stand. She looked up and discovered Daniel's hand in front of her. With a sigh, she took the offered hand and allowed the scientist to help her to her feet. "After all, you tell me you hate me on an almost daily basis."

Erika chuckled. "Yes, well, I have a special hatred of you, Daniel."

"Ah, as long as it's special."

They walked down the hall toward the elevator. Erika pressed the up button.

"Erika," Daniel said as they waited.

"Hm?"

"You're not alone, you know?"

Erika nodded. "I know."

The elevator dinged and they got on.

"Because I definitely think of you as an annoying little sister who can't leave me alone for five minutes."

"Way to ruin a moment."

"I do try."

"Well, as an older brother, I think you should buy me dinner tonight."

"Don't you have a boyfriend for that?"

"Yes, but he's gone on a mission at the moment. Besides, older brothers are supposed to look after little sisters. That means you have to take care of me, and that means you really have to buy dinner. I won't leave you alone until you say yes."

"God, you're annoying."

"God, I hate you."

They stepped off the elevator and made their way to mess hall, lightly shoving each other in the shoulders as they walked. They loaded their plates with food and sat opposite each other, Erika stealing a French fry off of Daniel's plate.

"Thanks," Erika commented, and she did not mean just for the French fry.

"Anytime," Daniel replied, and Erika knew he did not mean just for the French fry either.


	20. Chapter 20

**Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?**

A/N: I have no excuse for my lack of posting. Sorry. I hope this makes up for it. Hope it's not too boring. For the record, I'm not fond of the ending. I think it's too abrupt, but I hope you like it. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, or favorited, or alerted this story!

So, I noticed that my section dividers weren't showing up, so I changed them. ~safarigirl

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There was sound, barely a buzz that filtered into her mind. Slowly, she realized it was music, which meant one thing: her alarm was going off. Eyelids peeled back from honey colored eyes that slowly focused on the red spot floating above the bookshelf in the dark room. The bright numbers flashed from 5:32 to 5:33.

A sigh escaped from parted lips as a black blanket was thrown from a green clad torso. Pale legs swung over the edge of the bed and toes accented with purple polish set down on worn beige carpet. Cartoon boxers, stolen from Brad that last time she slept over, were shucked and replaced by green sweatpants, and the green shirt was traded for a blue Air Force shirt followed by a matching hoodie. White socks slipped over pedicured feet and neon blue running shoes followed. Bright pink laces were pulled tight before being tied into a bow and double knotted.

She walked to the kitchen, patted the cat on the head, and opened a cabinet below the counter. A cup of cat food was pulled out and dumped into a dull blue bowl. A matching bowl half full of water was picked up, the water dumped into the sink and the bowl rinsed. Once filled with clean water, it joined its mate on a fish shaped mat on the cream tiled floor. The calico purred as she rubbed against a leg before hunkering down in front of her food dish and delicately taking a piece of food in her mouth.

A red travel mug with the letters UNLV printed across the side in large white print was grabbed from the drying rack next to the sink. Dark liquid quickly filled it, splashing a little out of the top before the faded yellow spout was lifted upright and the coffee pot was replaced on its faded yellow base. Keys were snatched from the counter, causing a few pieces of junk mail to fall to the floor, where they were ignored. A faded grey ski jacket as grabbed off the coat rack and hastily put on before an orange and black messenger bag was seized from its place next to the front door and hefted over a shoulder. A door opened then shut. The click of a key turning in a lock sounded before shoes smacking on pavement faded. Then the apartment was silent.

Erika stood at the bottom of the stairs, her breath making little puffs of white in the crisp morning air. She took a large gulp of her coffee before walking toward her truck. She threw open the door, tossed her bag on the passenger seat, and climbed in. A turn of a key started the engine and she backed out of the complex parking lot. A left and two rights brought her to the main road, which in turn lead toward the SGC.

Twenty minutes later, she pulled into the first checkpoint. The man inside the booth, Airman First Class Matthews, smiled as Erika handed him her ID badge.

"You're in early today, Captain. Busy day planned, Ma'am?" he asked as he swiped the badge through a card reader. The machine beeped and he handed it back to her.

"Just some work I need to get done. Thanks Matthews," Erika made small talk back. She accepted the badge and clipped it to the fabric of her hoodie. He saluted, and she returned, before she drove into the base. Two checkpoints later and she pulled into the officer's parking lot, maneuvering into her parking spot next to the other captains. She noticed Colonel Carter's Jeep Cherokee on her way into the base and smiled. General O'Neill's Wrangler was nowhere to be found. Neither was Daniel's Subaru.

The guard at the entrance saluted as she walked to the main doors. Erika gestured back before sliding her card, typing in her six-digit code, and pressing her hand to the pad. There was a hiss, a pop and the metal door slid back. No one else was waiting at the elevators that early in the morning. Erika pressed the only button, the down arrow, and waited. A ding and the doors opened. Erika stepped through and pushed the button for level 11. She switched elevators at the 11th floor and continued on her way to level 18.

Daniel's office/lab was three left turns and a right turn from the elevator. One of the scientists from the biology labs waved as he walked in the opposite direction. Erika waved back, but continued on toward her lab without stopping. She dropped her bag on top of her desk and stripped off her jacket and sweater. With a flick of her wrist, she zipped opened one of the side pockets on her bag and dug around for her iPod. Ear buds tucked securely in ears, she exited the room, not looking where she was going as she fiddled with her music selection.

Song picked. Play pressed. Guitars filled her ears as running shoes hit the concrete floor, slowly at fist before building up speed.

The halls of level 18 were mostly empty. Few personnel wondered the halls, perhaps moving from one lab to another. Erika ignored them, focusing instead on the pace of her feet and the beat of the music. She jogged through the maze of halls, barely noticing where she was but her feet knew the route just the same. She rounded a corner and ducked through a doorway, taking the stairs down two at a time. She continued moving deeper into the base, jogging through the halls of a floor before returning to the stairwell and descending once more.

She finally emerged 4 floors down where the hallways were slightly more crowded with early workers and those who lived on base. Erika past them with ease, her main destination in sight at the end of the hall. The two main dining halls were closed at the moment, but the smaller dining room was open to early risers who needed a quick breakfast. Or in Erika's case another cup of coffee. The captain slipped her headphones out of her ears before grabbing a paper cup and pressing the black tab of the coffee maker down. The dark brown liquid rushed from the spout, making a satisfying splush sound as it filled her cup. She took a sip as she headed back to the elevator bank. She needed a shower and there was only one place on base that would serve.

While Erika did qualify for on-base housing, she opted not to use it. Mostly she did not need it, preferring to shower and change before coming to work, or jogging through the corridors once work was over and showering and changing at home. But some days, when the weather was cold and she had plans in the evening (like Brad coming home from a 3 day peace keeping/trading mission) she needed a place to shower and change on base after her morning workout. She had a locker down in the SG team locker room for when she went off world but was not a big fan of the communal shower. Brad, as a team commander, had on-base quarters, but he shared it with another captain. Besides, they kept their relationship strictly off base. Which left Daniel's private quarters.

Daniel's' on-base quarters, much like his home, was organized chaos. Artifacts from different time periods, different planets, lined the walls and shelves almost like they were on display in a museum. Books were stacked everywhere: on the two night stands that framed the bed, in a small display stand, on top of the desk, on the chest of drawers, and of course lined along the single bookcase in the corner. A framed picture of Sha're stood on one of the nightstands.

Erika ignored it all. She opened the top right drawer of the chest of drawers and pulled out one of the uniforms Daniel allowed her to stash there. There were fresh towels in the bathroom and her shampoo and body wash was still under the sink from the last time she needed to shower on base.

Clean, she changed into her base uniform. The black t-shirt was tucked into green cargo pants. Her hair was swept up into a neat bun on that rested at the base of her head. The matching green jacket was thrown over her shoulders, completely the ensemble. Erika glanced in the mirror, brushed a stray strand of hair from her forehead, and exited Daniel's room.

She looked at her watch and smiled when she realized she still had 15 minutes before she had to be at her desk, which left just enough time to grab a quick bit to eat. She took the elevator back up to level 22, where the main dinning rooms were now open, and stood in line for breakfast behind a scientist she did not know. The line moved quickly and soon Erika sat at a table by herself.

"Captain Sheppard," Erika looked up from her half-eaten mushroom and spinach omelet. A woman with curly strawberry blonde hair and thin-rimmed glasses stood at the end of the table. Her smart charcoal suit was just visible under a white lab coat. Her small hands were folded in front of her. She looked down her long, slightly bent nose at the captain seated in front of her.

"Dr. Lithe," Erika replied, her fork paused mid-way between her plate and mouth. "What can I do for you this morning?" She did not smile up at the other woman. Their distain to each other was well known in the department, if not the entire base.

"My reports?"

"Are on Daniel's desk," Erika informed her. Thinking the conversation over, she brought the fork to her lips and bit into the piece of food still stuck the end. She chewed, swallowed, and stabbed another slice of omelet. Dr. Lithe did not move from the end of the table.

"They're on his desk. Dr. Lithe. He'll look them over and sign off on them when he has the time." Erika went back to eating, her eyes traveling to the end of the table every so often as the fork traveled back and forth between plate and mouth. The woman still did not walk away. Instead, she pushed her glasses up her nose and folded her arms over her chest.

"Typical," she whispered just loud enough for Erika to hear after a few moments of awkward silence. Erika pushed her almost empty plate away. Her appetite was gone anyhow.

"What is?" she asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Nothing," the other woman replied with a slight smirk. Erika rolled her honey eyes before pushed her chair back from the table and rising. She walked around the doctor, making her way toward the elevators. Dr. Lithe followed.

"I need Dr. Jackson to sign off on those reports today, Captain. I have a briefing with General O'Neill at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning."

Erika stopped at the elevator bank and pressed the up button. "You scheduled a briefing with the base commander before the department head signed off on the project?" she asked, trying to keep her voice neutral. And failing. She knew it sounded like an accusation.

"It's important research. I'm sure Dr. Jackson will sign off on it once he reads it," the doctor shot back. "Next time, I'll be sure to hand it directly to him, instead of to his secretary."

"Yeah, good luck with that," Erika snapped back as she stepped into the elevator. Dr. Lithe followed. The lift seemed to take longer than usual to reach the 18th floor. Erika stared straight ahead, ignoring the woman standing next to her. Or tried to. It was hard when said woman was staring daggers into the captain's back. Finally, there was a ding and the doors opened. Erika went left. Dr. Lithe went right, much to Erika's pleasure.

She entered her office, hoping for a quiet morning.

"Erika, just the person I was looking for."

"So much for that," the captain muttered under her breath before turning to her guest. "Frank, what can I do for you?"

"I need to check out some video equipment."

"Okay." Erika stood over Daniel's desk, organizing his papers. She slipped Dr. Lithe's documents to the top of the "read" pile. "You know how to do that, Frank. You don't need me."

"I need someone to document a site."

"You have Josh," she replied absently as she read over a supply request form that Daniel needed to sign.

"Josh's no good," Frank stated. Erika glanced at him over the top of the page she held. She stared at the scientist in front of her, but he would not meet her eyes. With a sigh, Erika shuffled her papers and placed them in a separate stack on Daniel's desk. She pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, staving off the building headache. She could feel that it was going to be "one of those days."

"Nothing's wrong with Josh, Frank. Give him the camera and he'll document the site for you."

"He's not good enough. He doesn't know what he's doing. You do it, Erika. You're the only one who knows how to use those damn cameras," Frank complained as he paced the room.

"Oh, Frank, flattery will get you no where. Josh's fine. I trained him myself. Hand him the camera and let him do his thing," the woman replied back, her annoyance creeping through. She collected a disorganized pile of papers from the top of Daniel's desk and began sorting once more. Frank stopped in his pacing and glared at the younger woman.

"I need someone new," he tried again. Erika sighed heavily. "Just assign someone else to my team."

"No. I will not."

Frank opened his mouth.

"And Daniel won't either," Erika added. "This is the third new team member you've had in two months, Frank. Work with what you've got. Anything else, Frank?"

She could not have made the dismissal more clearly without actually telling the man to leave. Frank glowered for a moment before straightening his shoulders and spinning on his heels. He met Daniel at the door.

"Frank," the linguist said lightly as he brushed past the other man. "What brings you by this morning?"

"Your assistant is being obstinate," Frank practically growled back.

"Yes, she does that from time to time. What's the problem this time?" Daniel asked, glancing backwards at Erika as he did. The captain rolled her eyes before returning to her paperwork.

"It's Josh, Daniel. I need a replacement for Josh."

"And Erika told you no?"

"She's being stubborn. She just doesn't understand what he's like. He's just not good enough. Wasn't trained well enough or something."

"Didn't she train Josh?"

"Well-"

"Yes," Erika interrupted.

"So what you're saying is that Erika doesn't know how to train our people? If you think you could do better, Frank, we have a few coming in tomorrow that need to be trained on the new protocols-"

"No, no, no. Erika does a fine job at those. Besides, I have a lot to do tomorrow, Daniel."

"Like going over Josh's photographs."

Frank sighed. "Fine. You win. I'll use Josh this time. But if one thing is wrong, I want someone new."

"Bye, Frank," Daniel replied as he fully stepped into the office and closed the door behind him. Erika shoved a stack of papers in front of him before he took three steps across the small room.

"Sign those, please. Now," she instructed. She produced a pen when Daniel's search proved fruitless.

"Where were you hiding that?" Erika opened her mouth to reply. "Never mind. I probably don't want to know."

"Just sign."

"Shouldn't I read them first?" Daniel asked as he glanced over the first page of the first paper.

"I read them already. You approve of these ones. There's another stack of ones you don't approve of. And a third stack of other requests that for some reason need your signature. Plus, there's that pile next to your keyboard that you do actually need to read, mainly because I hate those people and find every word I have to read another reason to poke my eyeballs out with white hot pokers."

"Lovely image," Daniel counted as he continued to scan the document. "And I approve of this?"

"Yes."

"Fair enough," he replied as his pen scratched over the paper to form a messy signature.

Erika snatched the first paper away. "Great, thanks for the raise."

"Erika."

"Joking." She set down her stack of papers. "Okay, just finish with that stack, then start on this second one." She pointed. "You have a meeting at 0900 with General O'Neill and a meeting with SG-6 at 1000. After SG-6 is a post mission briefing with SG-8 at 1100 and SG-16 at 1230. Then you have that training with the new biologists at 1450, and finally there's a pre-mission briefing with SG-4 at 1630. And some time in between all of that you really need to finish this paperwork. It's been piling up and I've signed everything I'm allowed to sign off on."

"Aha. And what are you doing all day?" Daniel asked as he scanned over another document before adding his signature to the bottom.

"I have a meeting with General O'Neill, a training session with some new lab staff, a pre-mission briefing with SG-9, a post-mission briefing with SG-12, and a ton of artifacts that need to be catalogued and filed. Plus, you never got around to looking at that stuff SG-10 brought in last week, so I have to do that, too. Trust me, Daniel, my day is just as full as yours." Erika glanced down at her watch and sighed.

"I'm going to get started on those artifacts from SG-10. Remember, meeting at 0900. Don't be late. I'll be in the artifacts room if you need me," she said before turning for the door, leaving Daniel alone in his office.

He just shoved the papers aside to open a file on his computer when she poked her head back in.

"Read and sign papers," she remarked quickly before ducking back out again, not waiting for Daniel's response. She heard a muffled curse as she walked away and chuckled to herself.

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Erika sighed and stood. She stretched her back out, shifting her ribs from side to side trying to work out all the kinks. She circled her neck before rubbing the stiff muscle with a hand. She looked down at her watch again. It was almost time for her meeting with SG-9. Then she had her last meeting of the day with SG-12. If she were lucky, she would be done before 1500 and skip out early. She had a date tonight and she wanted to look her best.

She grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and collected the two folders she would need before she headed out of the artifact lab. She whistled as she made her way to the elevators. She rocked back and forth from heel to the toe in front of the elevator, waiting for the car to reach her floor.

"Captain Sheppard," a woman's voice called. Erika glanced over her shoulder. A woman around her age with flaming red frizzy hair and glasses was rapidly walking toward her. Erika recognized her as the scientist from SG-16. She stopped whistling and glanced down at her watch again. Daniel was supposed to be in a meeting with SG-16. Erika could feel her stomach start to knot. She did not have a good feeling about this.

"Dr. Merlitte, what can I do for you?" she asked with a false smile. The knot in her stomach tightened when the smile was not returned.

"Have you seen Dr. Jackson? He was supposed to meet us in the main briefing room 10 minutes ago. And he's not in his office," the other woman quickly explained. Erika groaned. She resisted the urge to smack the palm of her hand against her forehead. The elevator dinged and the doors opened.

"I haven't seen him since this morning. I'll page him when I get to briefing room B." She pressed the button and the elevator doors slide shut with a mechanical hiss, not waiting for Dr. Merlitte's response. But the knot in her stomach did not go away. If she knew Daniel, and she certainly did after working with him for a year and a half, he was side tracked and off on some other project. Before the door opened, Erika closed her eyes and rubbed at her temples with the thumb and middle fingers of her free hand, her palms ghosting over closed eyelids. Her fingers traveled across her eyes, lingering at the bridge of her nose. An index finger rubbed up and down her forehead as her thumb and middle finger ran across her closed eyes again. She could feel the tension headache building. And she had almost been done for the day.

The doors slide open. Erika opened her eyes and heaved a sigh before exiting and turning down the hall. She nodded to the already seated team as she entered, waving the sergeant and lieutenant back into their seats when they stood. She tossed her files on the table, but she did not take a seat. Instead, she strode to the phone, picked up the receiver, and pressed the red button.

"Paging Dr. Jackson. Please call briefing room B. Dr. Jackson, call briefing room B," she repeated. The announcement echoed softly through the room. Erika snapped the phone back into the cradle before returning her attention to the team before her.

"Okay, remind me again which planet you're going to," she started as she sat, her attention half on the team in front of her, and half on the phone to her right. She reached for the file on top, flipped it open and looked over it. She was half way down the first page before realizing it was the wrong file. Switching files, she tried again.

"Ah, M420-XC. Here's what we know."

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Erika collected her papers, tapping them in front of her to make the stack neater before sliding them back into her file. She glanced at the phone again. It never rang. Not once in her 45 minute meeting did the damn phone ring. Although twice during her meeting a member of SG-16 came in to find out if anyone from her department was going to be at their post-mission briefing. And since it was an archeological dig, and since it was Daniel's dig, they kind of needed some one from her department there. Preferably Daniel. But since he was currently unavailable, and apparently unreachable, Erika would do since she knew all the important stuff about the site.

Erika cursed under her breath as she left the briefing room and headed up a flight of stairs. She had to postpone her own post-mission briefing with SG-12. And since that was her pet project, the last follow up to a mission she had been working on for the last month, she needed to be there for the post-mission analysis. Erika cursed again.

She walked into the room. Dr. Merlitte glanced down at her watch before glaring pointedly at Erika. The captain tried very hard not to sigh loudly and roll her eyes. Instead she bit her lip and shrugged.

"I'm sorry. I'm still trying to find Dr. Jackson. Until then, I'll do the briefing," she explained. "But first," she added before Dr. Merlitte could open her mouth to comment. She went to the phone.

"Paging Dr. Jackson. Please call the main briefing room. Dr. Jackson, please call the main briefing room." She turned back to the group and sat at the head of the table. "Okay, make this quick. I don't have any of his notes, so just summarize, people. You can fill in the details in your reports."

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Erika sneaked a glance at her watch - an hour and a half. They had been in the damned meeting for an hour and a half. And still no call from Daniel. It was times like these that she wished radios and cell phones worked on the base. If they did, she would be cursing Daniel to several different planes of Hell at this very moment. This was his project. He should be doing the damn briefing. She really did not care about pottery inscriptions on fragments found on a planet that was barely beyond flint tool use. Erika made a face. Okay, under normal circumstances, she cared very much, but, she glanced at her watch again, today she did not have time to care. She had to find Daniel because he had to train biologists about the Stargate in 10 minutes.

"Okay, thanks, Dr. Merlitte. I'm sure it's all in your report," she said, standing suddenly.

"Well, yes, Captain, but don't you want to hear-"

"I'll read the report," Erika interrupted. "Just leave them on my desk. I'll make sure Dr. Jackson gets them." She turned without waiting for a response and went to the phone on the wall again.

"Dr. Jackson, call the conference room. Dr, Jackson, call the conference room." She was losing her patience with the man.

She took the stairs to the conference room two at a time. Three people, two women and man, in white lab coats sat around the conference room table, all three looking out the window that over looked the gate. They barely looked up when Erika entered and strode to the board in the back of the room. She glanced toward General O'Neill's office as she made her way across the room, but the General was out. Erika grunted. That was usually a bad sign.

"Hello," she said, drawing the biologists' attention. "I'm Captain Erika Sheppard and I'll be training you on DHD operation and standard protocols of how to dial back to Earth."

"I though Dr. Jackson taught this?" one of the women asked. Erika ground her teeth, but her smile remained.

"He usually does. He's been…indisposed at the moment. But I'm his assistant and will be filling in," she said, "for him today."

All three nodded. The man opened up a notebook and tapped his pen against it. Erika glanced back at the phone, sighed, and began the training session by drawing out a DHD in black dry-erase maker.

"Okay, DHD: Dial Home Device. This, as the name implies, is how you get home." She turned to the whiteboard and began drawing out symbols. "These are possibly the most important symbols on the DHD: our address. Live it, know it, love it."

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"That's about all you need to know about how to use the DHD. Any questions?" She glanced up at the three people quickly before pushing on. "Good. You should have been assigned to an SG team already, so just make sure you read the updated deployment schedules and show up to all your briefings on time. Thanks." Erika skirted out of the room before the biologists could corner her for questions.

She glanced down at her watch and sighed with relief. It was only 1525. She had a few moments to grab a bite to eat before her re-scheduled meeting with SG-12. She sighed. So much for working on any artifacts that day.

Erika threaded her way through the gray halls with purpose, taking stairs two at a time in some places because she did not want to wait for the elevator. In a matter of minutes, she was at the mess hall. Although the lunchtime crowd was diminished, a few stragglers, such as her, were mulling about. Erika's mood brightened when she noticed that Brad was among them. She grabbed a tray, picked out a few favorites, and pulled out the chair besides him.

"Hey, thought you ate already, otherwise I would have stopped by your office," he offered in way of greeting. Erika nodded around a mouthful of food.

"I've been filling in for Daniel most of the day," she answered after swallowing. "He's MIA."

Brad nodded, "Come to think of it, neither he nor General O'Neill was at our post mission briefing. But you're almost done, right. Because we have that reservation at 1800 tonight."

Erika chuckled, "Did you just give our date a deployment time?"

Captain Michaels returned her laugh. "Sorry. But we're still on for tonight, right?"

Erika nodded enthusiastically. "Of course." She shoved another bite of food in her mouth before grabbing his wrist and checking the time.

"Shit," she mumbled through a mouthful of pasta. "I have to go. Pick me up at 5:30?"

"Looking forward to it. Oh, and Captain-"

Erika paused. "The blue one," was all Brad said, but Erika could feel the heat creep into her cheeks. He loved her blue dress.

With renewed energy, Erika raced back up to the briefing room, thoughts of her date that night quickly being replaced by thoughts of her meeting. This team was working on her pet project: a dig not far from a small settlement of people who shared ancestry with the ancient Chinese found on Earth. Possibly people from before the Qin Dynasty. An excited smile lit the captain's face. She had been looking forward to this meeting all day and now, after putting it off 3 times, she was finally going to hear the results of a month of work. Plus there was a small storeroom of artifacts that needed to be researched, analyzed, and catalogued. With a happy sigh, Erika entered the conference room and smiled at the team seated in front of her.

"Sorry about the delays. It's been a crazy day, but I'm here now." She seated herself at the head of the table. "Let's begin. Dr. Lyman, what can you tell me?"

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"That should do it then," Erika declared as she stacked her papers and notes together. She looked around the room and smiled. "Good job, everyone. We'll start on the analysis tomorrow." One by one the team left the briefing room, Erika bringing up the rear. She glanced down at her watch as she headed back to her office to pick up her things. If she hurried, she could still be ready before Brad picked her up. With a smile, she picked up her pace to the elevator banks, ready for the day to be over.

The elevator door was almost closed when a hand darted out, forcing the door to slide back open. Erika recognized the major from SG-4 standing in the open door.

"Captain Sheppard," she said casually, but the warning bells started ringing for Erika. She checked her watch again. It was just after 1630, which meant Major Degas should be in a pre-mission briefing with Daniel.

"Major," she responded. "I was just on my way out. What can I help you with?"

"Dr. Jackson hasn't shown up yet. We need someone to do the briefing."

"Of course, Major, but I don't have the information on your mission. Daniel's the one with all that information. You'll have to postpone the briefing until tomorrow."

"We're scheduled to leave first thing in the morning, Captain. My team needs to be briefed on the indigenous peoples and if Dr. Jackson is not able to do it, then it falls on you, Captain, as the assistant head of the Anthropology Department."

Erika was stunned for a moment, but collected herself as Major Degas stepped into the elevator.

"With all due respect, Major, I'm not the assistant head of the department. I'm Dr. Jackson's assistant and a member of the Anthropology Department. There actually isn't an assistant head. I'm sorry, Major, but I don't have that information. You need to find Daniel."

There was silence as the elevator ascended to the 18th level where Erika and Daniel's office was located. When the door dinged open, she exited, the major following close behind. Erika ignored her, stepping into her office and making her way to her desk.

"Captain Sheppard," she said, stopping at the threshold. Erika looked up from sorting through her files, deciding which to take home and which could stay. "My team needs to be briefed tonight. Is there anyone who can take over for Dr. Jackson?"

Erika sighed. She looked up at the wall clock. The big hand glided toward the five as the little hand hovered over the nine. She swiveled her gaze to Daniel's desk: a mess of papers, charts, and files with a few artifacts strewn about. Somewhere on there was the file pertaining to SG-4's mission. She sighed again.

"Give me fifteen minutes to find the files. I'll meet you in the briefing room."

"Thank you, Captain." Erika waved her off. She waited until the major was gone before going to her office phone and dialing the number from memory.

"Hello," her boyfriend answered. Erika took a deep breath.

"Hey, Hun, I've got some bad news."

"You're canceling?" She could hear the disappointment in his voice. She pursed her lips and closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She hated disappointing him, and it was happening more often in the last month or so.

"I just might be late is all," she lied. "Something's come up and-"

"Something always comes up, Erika."

"I'm sorry," she said as she moved over to Daniel's desk and began ransacking it for the file she needed. "Daniel's still missing and there's no one else here who can do this briefing. I'll be quick and meet you at the restaurant, okay?"

There was silence on the other end and Erika paused in her search. "Brad?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. I'll see you at 6:30." The line went dead. Erika stared at it for a moment before hanging up and continuing her search. It took her rifling through the first file drawer before she found the correct file. She flipped through it as she headed back down to the briefing room. She swept through the door and, without bothering to greet anyone, went up to the white board at the front of the room.

"Let's begin," she instructed. She opened the file again and set it before her on the table, glanced at it again and began writing on the board.

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Erika capped her pen and glanced down at her watch. It was a quarter to six. She could still get home and showered and changed and meet Brad on time. Her gaze swept around the room, catching each person as her eyes traveled around the table.

"Any questions?" she asked, cleaning up her papers and stacking them back in the manila file. Her manner suggested that she did not want to answer any questions. A sergeant timidly raised his hand.

"Captain, you didn't go into any specifics about the rituals we'll be expected to participate in."

"Yes, because I don't have specifics on those rituals. If you find Dr. Jackson, he has all the details you'll need."

"Dr. Jackson is in Dr. Lee's lab. He told us to come find you to do the briefing," Dr. Craig answered as he gathered his notes. Erika stopped half crouched over her chair and stared at the linguist as the information processed.

"He's…he's in Dr. Lee's lab?" she asked, still half in the chair. "He's been there the whole time." Dr. Craig nodded. Erika was out of her chair and out of the room at a jog. She took the stairs down a level two at a time and practically ran to Dr. Lee's lab. The door was half opened when she got there and she heard voices inside. One caught her attention.

"I never want to do that again."

"I agree, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c responded.

"You won't have to. We're going to be shutting this project down," General O'Neill replied.

"Good," Daniel replied, "Because I never want to do that again."

Erika pushed into the room.

"Captain Sheppard, what an unexpected visit," the general quipped. Erika nodded.

"Sir, if I could steal Daniel for a moment?" she asked, barely containing her anger as she stared at her boss. Daniel stood and answered for General O'Neill,

"What can I help you with?"

"Can I speak with you in the hall?"

"Sure." He stood, some what strained, and followed her out into the hall. The door was barely shut behind them before Erika turned on him, her face red with anger.

"This is where you've been all day. I've covered every one of your meetings today. I've pushed back my own projects so I could cover for you. I was supposed to be out of here an hour ago. Do you know where I should be right now? I should be at home cleaning up and changing into a slinky blue dress so my boyfriend, whom I haven't seen in 10 days because of meetings and missions, can take me out for a nice night. But I'm here, covering my boss's meetings because he's too busy, doing what exactly?" she blurted out, her voice rising with each word.

"I've been here, helping Teal'c. He was trapped in the training simulator," Daniel explained. Erika crossed her arms over her chest.

"Daniel, you had things to do today, and playing on the training simulator wasn't one of them. I had things to do today, and instead I had to cover for you. Get an assistant head for the department. I can't continue doing the head of the department's job, the assistant head's job and my job. Now I'm going home, changing, and meeting my boyfriend."

"Erika," Daniel started. Erika raised her hand, cutting Daniel off.

"I hate you a little more than usual right now."


End file.
